From William Whitman Jr., Vice President, Communications, McDonald's USA:

The statement below should help provide further clarification regarding McDonald's recent communication with our franchisees about the Employee Free Choice Act. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

McDonald's Statement:

"We regret our internal effort to keep our franchisees informed on all aspects regarding this legislation has been leaked to the press and mischaracterized as an anti-union campaign. This was not our intent.

McDonald's is not engaged in an anti-union campaign.

In fact, we pride ourselves on being the restaurant organization for all people -- especially during tough economic times like these.

As such, we try to not take sides in political issues, because we know our customers come from all walks of life, and represent diverse opinions and backgrounds.

Regarding this legislation, as a restaurant organization with 3,100 independent small businesses, we have a responsibility to inform and educate our system about legislation that could impact their business. This was the intent of the communication in question.

Unfortunately, the message was leaked to the media and excerpts were used to create the impression that McDonald's is engaged in anti-union activities. Again, this was not our intent.

We appreciate the opportunity to clarify McDonald's position -- and again, we regret any misrepresentation of the facts."

William Whitman Jr.
Vice President, Communications
McDonald's USA