hydrarchist writes : This article is aprt of a more general project being conducted by several groups in Europe on conditions in modern workplaces. You can find more info at Prol-Position, Hotlines and Kolinko.

Being a McWorker, a McDonald's report from Germany

What is McDonald's?


McDonald's is used by some people as a symbol of 'evil multi-national American imperialist culture'. But in reality it only has a different face from any other employer. Working for wages IS exploitation, be it in McDonald's or an organic bread shop. Although some say that working for McDs is especially bad in terms of supporting multi-nationals, almost all companies are tied into 'global economy' through production, supplies or sales. In contrast to this, working for McDonald's can lead to possibilities for the world wide workers struggle in a two ways:

1. Where I work, almost all the workers are immigrant workers, who live in isolated communities to a greater or lesser extent and sometimes have contact to their home countries. At McDonald's they meet each other, share experiences and stories of life in Germany, of life back home, of why they are here and the situations in their home countries. This multi-culti image that McDonald's likes to have in its adverts is perversely true, due to the limited opportunities for immigrants in the German labour market. So they are international in both senses, the company goes all over the world, and once there they bring together people who have had to move around the world themselves. Oh yeah - and then of course there is the international promotions such as Asia week!

hydrarchist writes: This interview was originally published at The Commoner.

"Interview with Evo Morales by Yvonne Zimmermanm, La Paz 7.7.02

Evo Morales Ayma, 43 years old, is president of the coca farmers' federation in Chapare and he's a symbol of the struggle against neoliberal politics in Bolivia. In the past four years he was president of the political party MAS (Movement Towards Socialism) in parliament, and in the most recent elections on the 30th June, according to the last counting he received more than 21
percent of the votes. As the second political force he might become the new president in Bolivia, seen as the final election is between the two strongest candidates, in this case Evo Morales and Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada of MNR (Nationalist Revolutionary Movement) who's slightly ahead of him.

These elections will mark a profound change in Bolivia. For the first time ever indigenous peoples and anti-neoliberal movements will be represented in parliament as a significant force. Until now, in that country split between the modern and rich Bolivia of whites and the poor Bolivia of indigenous people, the latter have basically been excluded from politics. According to Morales, they're now not only going to stop, but reverse neoliberal politics that have ruled the country for 17 years.