by Jean-Guy Allard
Sunday, Jun. 10, 2001 at 8:58 AM
In the '90s, McDonald's was nicknamed the triumphant symbol of U.S. imperialism, but with the dawn of the new millennium its role has changed to that of the black beast of the new antiglobalization wave . Pursued by activists, trade unionists and ecologists, the chain has realized that it is time to deal with its decline.
errorIf in the 1990s the arrival of a McDonald's restaurant in Pushkin Square foretold the fall of the Soviet Union and the years of ringing triumph for U.S. imperialism, the dawn of the new millennium has confirmed the international fast-food king's role as the black beast of the new wave of globalization.
Its Moscow opening was the fruit of deals made by Canadian emissaries. The first Russian McDonald's was represented a million-dollar investment and became a main attraction for the nascent bourgeoisie overnight. This representation of the "American way of life" became the most elegant meeting place for up-and-coming entrepreneurs and the nouveau riche inhabitants of Russia's capital city.
Ten years have passed, the world has changed a great deal, and this gastronomic symbol of U.S. hegemony is now a victim of the very phenomenon that engendered its success: globalization.
In Seattle and Quebec, in Paris and Milan, a rejection of neoliberalism and its uncontrollable propagation has transformed the golden arches, the chain's famous logo, into public enemy number one for the vast legions of antiglobalization activists.
In Paris a group of young people called AARRG (Apprentice Agitators for a Network of Resistance of Globalization) attacked 20 McDonald's with stink bombs; in Rome, Turin, Naples and Palermo, thousands of Italians attacked dozens of McDonald's by throwing ground beef at the windows; in London McDonald's was ransacked when riots broke out during an anti-globalization protest.
In fact the name of the U.S. firm has become an inevitable protest target, not only because of its "imperial" nature but also because of everything that capitalism represents: uncontrollable consumerism, environmental contamination, foods lacking in nutritional value, no respect for the worker and other disasters.
THE NEW ASTERIX
In France, José Bové, the charismatic leader of the small farmers confederation, headed a violent protest against a McDonald's under construction in the town of Millau, in a region famous for its production of the renowned Roquefort cheese, the pride of the gastronomic Gauls. He was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, but Bové became a nationally recognized figure; his thick farmer's moustache invited comparisons with Astérix, the cartoon character that fearlessly fought the legions of the Roman Empire. Bové soon reached international levels when he took his troops to Seattle to the famous protest that shook up the World Trade Organization Summit.
Observers confirm that the first mistake that led to the transnational's image change was made in 1994 when, with undeniable arrogance, it took two British ecologists who had publicly criticized the chain to court in London. David Morris and Helen Steel were two penniless activists who published a "list of facts" about McDonald's that the company considered slanderous. Morris and Steel represented themselves against a team of lawyers contracted by the transnational. The trial lasted more than two years and the court unfairly ruled in favor of the U.S. chain, but the public had already taken the side of the two humble but dignified victims; the untouchable image of the American giant was stained.
From that moment on the company, based in the U.S. state of Illinois, has had to face numerous claims which have started to chip away the gold of the big M, the letter which identifies 28,000 branches worldwide.
A FEW DROPS OF KETCHUP
In Bombay the Islam fundamentalists attack the restaurants - for using beef flavoring in a country where the cow is a sacred animal - and in Waitekere City, USA, the city council has imposed huge fines on McDonald's for being the champion of contamination due to its uncontrolled use of disposable materials. All over the world, McDonald's is now suffering a rebellion from a work force that is angry about its systematic exploitation.
McDonald's employs more than a million young people all over the world and its public relation's department states that it is a creator of jobs par excellence.
Its commercial adversaries, however, maintain that the chain pays low wages and keeps creating more branches to effectively rid the market of competition.
Universally, McDonald's employees are complaining, not just about the dreadful wages but also the frenetic work schedules, the job insecurity, and on top of all this, the total absence of worker's rights.
In 1954 Ray Kroc bought the successful restaurant from brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald, along with the almost Machiavellian system of operations invented by the two businessmen.
The brother's system was to divide production into a series of simple tasks that would turn the kitchen into an assembly line, eliminating the need for professional chefs. Any fully functioning person can work in McDonald's because each machine is specially designed to be operated by anybody after just a few minutes of training.
Who can't put a few drops of ketchup on thousand of hamburger buns, by pushing just one button especially designed for the task? As soon as the worker complains, there is nothing simpler than replacing him or her with the next job seeker in line.
A NASTY SURPRISE
When the winds of the labor movement blew through McDonald's, the company sought the advice of the highly experienced New York law firm Jackson Lewis, whose specialty is squashing trade unions. McDonald's also beefed up its security services, consisting of a group of veteran police officers.
In 1998, 51 of the 62 employees of a McDonald's restaurant in Saint-Hubert, a district of Montreal, Canada, surprised their managers by announcing that they had formed a trade union and demanding the negotiation of a contract that complies with labor laws.
The next morning, a nasty surprise awaited the young employees. When they arrived at work they noticed that the golden arches and everything that represented the McDonald's branch was gone. During the night the transnational had completely dismantled the branch, one of the 1,050 that McDonald's owns in Canada.
In another highly profitable branch on Peel Street, in the center of Montreal, the 100 workers suspected of trade union militancy were substituted overnight by 100 new employees.
In other parts of the world, labor laws have meant success for trade unions created by the burger giant's employees, but always after prolonged conflict.
Workers on strike in Paris actively participated in the anti-McDonald's demonstrations, protesting the chain's anti-trade union attitude and as well as the "job insecurity, the hellish work schedule and the ridiculous wages."
In October 2000, thousands of protesters surrounded 20 branches in Florence, Italy, denouncing, among other things, the "atmosphere of intimidation" imposed on the workers by Big Mac, and the cultural invasion represented by the 272 restaurants countrywide.
In Ireland and Germany trade unions that now have an active presence on the Internet also triumphed by inviting their colleagues throughout the world to join them in the globalization of their trade union movement.
Even in Moscow, the scene of the scrupulously planned "triumph," golden arch workers are becoming organized, led by a young worker, Natalia Grachova, in a confrontation that has gone all the way to the Duma. The Russian legislators eventually obligated the transnational to negotiate with its workers, thereby stimulating a new wave of militancy among the country's trade unions.
COSTLY MISFORTUNES
The price of its former successes is that McDonald's successive misfortunes have the habit of attracting media attention.
The attention is such that speculators on the stock market - traditionally fans of the Big M - have recently started retreating. The already obvious end to the chain's expansion in its homeland, mad cow disease slowing hamburger consumption in Europe - in Lodi, Italy, a case was discovered at the chain 's meat supplier, unleashing panic - and the political visibility directed at the firm during the new wave of global protests, has scared even the brand's diehard supporters.
It has been said that to see a nice view in the United States, one first has to cross the jungle of McDonald's, Burger Kings, Pizza Huts, KFCs, Starbuck's and the other fast-food chains that have altered or contaminated the country's appearance. And the fact is that McDonald's is already being suffocated by its competition in the very cradle of its success.
In the face of its new "global" rivals, who knows how the empire's "triumphant" golden arches will survive.