Day 010 - 11 Jul 94 - Page 11

     
     1
         Q.   Who is Lorna Ersam?
     2        A.  Lorna Ersam is identified in various accounts as a
              public relations specialist for McDonald's Corporation.
     3        That is the best way I can -- the most light I can shed on
              that.  We had questions ----
     4
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  How do you spell her surname?
     5        A.  I would have to refer to the documents, if I may?
 
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Leave it for the moment.
              A.  I believe the correct spelling is E-R-S-A-M, but I
     7        would have to look at the documents to be absolutely
              certain.
     8
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You were saying that she was identified as a
     9        public relations specialist for McDonald's Corporation,
              then I interrupted you?
    10        A.  So, in the initial stages, McDonald's relied on
              various types of public relations techniques to deal with
         public concern.  It later modified these techniques in a
              stage that occurred at the time or immediately following a
    12        meeting in 1989 in which the person I mentioned earlier,
              Shelby Yastrow, met with -- Shelby Yastrow is spelt with
    13        Y-A-S-T-R-O-W -- met with representatives of my
              organisation at a hotel in Washington DC to discuss the
    14        foam issue.
 
    15        At that time Yastrow said that he would -- well, he said
              two things in essence.  He said that McDonald's was going
    16        to begin a recycling project on foam, and he said that he
              agreed with the Clearing House -- the organisation's
    17        request that McDonald's provide funding to pay for the air
              fare for local community activists from around the country
    18        to fly to McDonald's headquarters and meet with Yastrow.
 
    19        As a response to that, the Clearing House agreed we would
              not picket the opening of their 10,000th restaurant in
    20        Dale City, Virginia, which McDonald's had planned to use
              with a great deal of fanfare.  So, at that point the
         Clearing House and foam activists agreed not to picket
              that restaurant openly.
    22
              Subsequent to the opening of the restaurant and subsequent
    23        to Mr. Yastrow's return, the McDonald's Corporation
              refused to meet with local community activists.  So in the
    24        second stage McDonald's acknowledged at least that the
              Clearing House was an organisation that existed and had a
    25        viable issue that it was trying to put on the table and,
              in response, McDonald's offered to recycle foam. 
    26 
              The experience that we had had with McDonald's up to that 
    27        point led us to believe that their recycling, or
              McRecycling, programme McDonald's was pursuing was another
    28        public relations ploy.  It may even be a hoax; if it was
              not a hoax, it was probably going to be unworkable, but in
    29        spite of that, it would be worth demonstrating in some
              fashion that McDonald's would be -- that McDonald's was
    30        planning to recycle foam.