By MELISSA MEEHAN
Protest group spearheads attack on Macca’s world-wide HQ…
IT’S a fight that’s taken them half way across the globe, and members of the No Maccas in Tecoma group say they will not back down.
Five members of the No Maccas in Tecoma protest group arrived in Chicago, Illinios, last week to hand deliver a 7000 page petition to McDonald’s head office pleading with the fast food giant to call off its plans to build in Tecoma.
But No Maccas spokesperson Garry Muratore said it wasn’t easy getting in touch with McDonald’s executives.
“We kind of shamed them into meeting us,” Mr Muratore said.
“We had sent a few emails back and forth, and they told us not to bother coming in – just to mail it to them.
“But we didn’t travel all this way to just pop in the mail.”
He said when the American media started to show interest in their visit, McDonald’s claimed they didn’t know anything about their intentions to meet with them.
On Friday, the group was able to hand over the 7000 page petition to a PR manager and a corporate representative, who stood alongside a security guard.
“It was amazing, they acted as though the petition was poison,” Mr Muratore said.
“And then we asked them why they were taking legal action against those who have protested the development in Tecoma, and they said it was for their own protection.
“The whole thing was startling.”
Mr Muratore said the watching media was then invited to a closed room media conference that the No Maccas group were not able to attend.
“They told the media we were just a vocal minority, and that the town had supported the project and there were similar lots of restaurants along the road,” he said.
“It was shameful.”
Mr Muratore said the group would not stop its fight to save Tecoma from the fast food giant.
“We are here to send a message to McDonald’s that bullying small towns like Tecoma is not on,” he said.
“We’re not the only ones against this. The council said no, they have no ethical right to build in our town.
“They should move on and find an appropriate place to build. Not in the Dandenong Ranges.”
