BY CAMERON BROWN
NEWCASTLE — Sixty people staged a picket outside a McDonald's restaurant on King Street here on September 11, in solidarity with S11 protesters blockading the World Economic Forum in Melbourne.
While passers-by and many customers took leaflets and stopped to listen to speakers, some drive-through patrons reacted with hostility, which was attributed by one speaker to imbalances resulting from eating too much low-nutrition junk food.
Other speakers addressed McDonald's inhumane treatment of animals and workers and its exploitation of children.
The action was one of several held to mark the S11 protests, including a public meeting on September 10 and a screening of a documentary on the McLibel case.
The picket of the giant fast food chain was initiated by the Labour History Society and supported by Resistance and the Beehive.