McProtests

The 15th annual Worldwide Anti-McDonald’s Day on October 16th [UN World Food Day] saw protests take place in 23 countries against the promotion of junk food, the unethical targeting of children, exploitation of workers, animal cruelty, damage to the environment and the global domination of corporations. There were also some events on October 12th - an annual day of solidarity with McDonald’s workers. This stems from the death by electrocution at work of crew member Mark Hopkins in Manchester on October 12th 1992.

In the UK, London Greenpeace picketed McDonald’s in The Strand, Central London. 40 people participated and over 4000 leaflets were handed out. Other protests occurred outside stores including those in Doncaster, Nottingham, Oxford, Aberdeen, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Cambridge, Leeds, Brighton, Birmingham, and Southampton.

On Oct 2nd, McDonald’s were commemorating the 25th anniversary of the opening of their first store in the UK, in Woolwich, South East London. Undermining this event, and celebrating 25 years of growing opposition to McWorld, activists held up ‘25 years of McJunk’, and ‘McDonald’s Guilty - Exploiting Workers, Destroying The Environment, Murdering Animals’ banners. They also handed out 4000 leaflets to passers-by. The global campaign against McDonald’s currently includes a 310-day continuous residents’ occupation of the site of a planned new store near Kingston, South London.