Tom Kruse asked about MacDonalds. In the town of Squamish, here in British Columbia, the Canadian Auto Workers union (formerly the Canadian wing of the UAW) have certified the only MacDonalds in North America (at least I think it is the only one; another franchise in Quebec was unionized a few months ago, but immediately shut down by the owner, probably to defeat the unionization effort). One of MacDonald's legal tactics here has been to argue that workers under the age of 18 could not sign union cards, or dues check-off forms - that, as minors, their parents or guardian's signatures were required. This argument has been turned down in three Labour Board hearings. At least for the moment MacDonalds is not appealing it up the line, but their attitude is pretty clear: Too young to have rights, but not too young to be exploited! This union drive was started by young workers still in high school. One young worker's father, a union member, suggested they contact the CAW. Squamish is a "mill town", traditionally focused on lumber, sawmills and the nearby pulp and paper mill, and its union tradition is probably one reason the drive got underway here. (Of course, the forest industry is currently in deep depression, and generally in long term decline - in number of mills and number of workers, that is, not in output). In one TV interview I saw, a young woman worker, a high school student, said that the main issue in this union drive was not higher wages, but more respect. Negotiations for the first contract are underway with the local franchise owner, but it is well know that MacDonalds headquarters maintains very close connections on anything about unions. I'd be interested if Tom could describe more about the protest against MacDonalds opening in Bolivia (I'll pass it on to the union here), since I am sure (some) issues in Bolivia are different than in North America. Bill Burgess At 08:54 AM 07/12/98 -0400, you wrote: >Dear Listmembers: > >The frist McDonalds in Cochabamba, Bolivia is to open on Friday. We are >preparing a protest of sorts. I am writing for help in putting together >info. I have the piece by Liza Featherstonein LBO 86, a couple of list >posts, but nothing else. > >I would greatly appreciate ANY critical infomration on McDs, especially >profitability, business and labor practices. > >Also, I vaguely remember The Economist did a Big Mac index, which compared >the cost of Big Macs the world over, as a sort of globalized index of >costs/values. Does anyone have the citation? We would like to see where >Bolivia stands on the global Big Mac index. > >Many thanks! > >Tom > >Tom Kruse >Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia >Tel/Fax: (591-4) 248242 >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >
