The Great Fast Food Strike
from: Rise As One
A great story well told! Traditional melody borrowed from the Buffalo Skinners.
Come all you fast food workers, wherever you may dwell
If you'll consent to listen, a story I will tell
Of six young workers like yourselves, who were compelled to go
And labor for McDonald's in Macedon-i-o.
'Twas in northeast Ohio this burger franchise stood
As in many such establishments, conditions were not good
The wages they were meager, but by far the greatest woe
Was to work for Jerry Guffey in Macedon-i-o.
Now Jerry was the manager, a spiteful man was he
If ever you displeased him, his anger you would see
With foul names and shoves and shouting, his curses they would flow
He was the meanest fast food boss in Macedon-i-o
Margaret she was sixty-six, she worked from need, not choice
One day she left a bag of trash out of its proper place
When Jerry came upon it, his rage did overflow
The staff looked on as Margaret wept, in Macedon-i-o
'Twas on an Easter Sunday student workers made a vow
"Abuse of youth and elderly no longer we'll allow"
These brave young people left their jobs, their paychecks did forego
To walk upon a picket line in Macedon-i-o
Bryan Drapp walked out, and Jamal Nickens he did too
Josh Jones and Matt Casserlie, they joined the picket crew
Steve Stem and Heidi Shaffer solidarity did show
They led the fight for dignity in Macedon-i-o
From CNN to Leno, Howard Stern to NPR
The story of the fast food strike was carried near and far
McDonalds' high executives, to save the status quo
Sent in a crack consultant, to Macedon-i-o
Then Teamsters' Local Four Sixteen came to the strikers' aid
"These kids against your corporate might's an unfair fight," they said
"We're here to balance out the scales." The company said, "No!
We will not talk with unions in Macedon-i-o"
At Route Eight and the Interstate the strikers held their ground
They thrust aloft their picket signs as the April rains beat down
'Til a Teamster bakery driver, he dealt the final blow
He would not cross a picket line in Macedon-i-o
The bosses watched in horror as the truck it rolled away
They knew it carried all the buns they needed for that day
While twenty cheering picketers, still marching to and fro
Saw victory within their grasp in Macedon-i-o
A fair wage and paid vacation, better safety at the grill
In every point of bargaining the workers had their will
And to a training program Jerry Guffey's forced to go
To brush up on his people skills, in Macedon-i-o.
You've heard of labor's struggles in Harlan's bloody hills
At Homestead, Flint and Ludlow, and in Massachusetts' mills
In April nineteen ninety-eight, the history books will show
How fast food workers held the line in Macedon-i-o
Come all you fast food workers, wherever you may dwell
If you'll consent to listen, a story I will tell
Of six young workers like yourselves, who were compelled to go
And labor for McDonald's in Macedon-i-o.
'Twas in northeast Ohio this burger franchise stood
As in many such establishments, conditions were not good
The wages they were meager, but by far the greatest woe
Was to work for Jerry Guffey in Macedon-i-o.
Now Jerry was the manager, a spiteful man was he
If ever you displeased him, his anger you would see
With foul names and shoves and shouting, his curses they would flow
He was the meanest fast food boss in Macedon-i-o
Margaret she was sixty-six, she worked from need, not choice
One day she left a bag of trash out of its proper place
When Jerry came upon it, his rage did overflow
The staff looked on as Margaret wept, in Macedon-i-o
'Twas on an Easter Sunday student workers made a vow
"Abuse of youth and elderly no longer we'll allow"
These brave young people left their jobs, their paychecks did forego
To walk upon a picket line in Macedon-i-o
Bryan Drapp walked out, and Jamal Nickens he did too
Josh Jones and Matt Casserlie, they joined the picket crew
Steve Stem and Heidi Shaffer solidarity did show
They led the fight for dignity in Macedon-i-o
From CNN to Leno, Howard Stern to NPR
The story of the fast food strike was carried near and far
McDonalds' high executives, to save the status quo
Sent in a crack consultant, to Macedon-i-o
Then Teamsters' Local Four Sixteen came to the strikers' aid
"These kids against your corporate might's an unfair fight," they said
"We're here to balance out the scales." The company said, "No!
We will not talk with unions in Macedon-i-o"
At Route Eight and the Interstate the strikers held their ground
They thrust aloft their picket signs as the April rains beat down
'Til a Teamster bakery driver, he dealt the final blow
He would not cross a picket line in Macedon-i-o
The bosses watched in horror as the truck it rolled away
They knew it carried all the buns they needed for that day
While twenty cheering picketers, still marching to and fro
Saw victory within their grasp in Macedon-i-o
A fair wage and paid vacation, better safety at the grill
In every point of bargaining the workers had their will
And to a training program Jerry Guffey's forced to go
To brush up on his people skills, in Macedon-i-o.
You've heard of labor's struggles in Harlan's bloody hills
At Homestead, Flint and Ludlow, and in Massachusetts' mills
In April nineteen ninety-eight, the history books will show
How fast food workers held the line in Macedon-i-o
© 1998 Deborah Van Kleef