Strike At Disney

[StuartMI]

http://www.local6.com/news/3889075/detail.html

20,000 May Strike After Disney Negotiations Break Down
POSTED: 7:57 am EST November 4, 2004
UPDATED: 8:10 am EST November 4, 2004

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The first strike at Walt Disney World since the 1980s could happen as soon as next week putting 20,000 union workers on the picket line, Local 6 News has learned.

Negotiations have reportedly broken down between Disney's largest union group, the Service Trade Council Union, and Disney.

The union group has been in negotiations with Disney for more than six months trying to increase wages for Disney workers, contain health care costs, and improve pension benefits.

At a meeting Wednesday night, Disney gave what they called their best offer. However, the union said no deal.

Union leader Joe Condo says the wage proposal was too low and Disney's offer on health insurance and pension are unacceptable.

Disney's first offer was voted down in early August.

At the beginning of October, union members traveled to New York to stage a protest at the newest World of Disney store.

A Disney spokesman told Local 6 News that they are surprised the unions are talking about a strike and that their offer is fair.

The Service Trade Council represents 22,000 workers.

Disney union members will meet next Thursday to vote on whether they will strike.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

Does anyone know who/what this would affect? Disney proper? Characters? Disney Cruise Line?

 

[CarolA]

I "think" characters are under a different contract.

Also, the cruise line uses contract employees. You sign a contract to be an employee for a period of time, this is not generally a union and dock work would be handled by the Longshoreman's union.

 

[LibertyBelle]

This is for WDW property CM's in the Unions only. It does not include the cruise line as was mentioned they are contracted. Entertainment is in a different union, but they are still on the strike line (in fact they were the first ones to talk about striking)

 

[WDWHound]

I'm betting Disney will do something to stop this, even if it means giving in to some of the unions Demands. They can not afford a strike over the Thanksgiving weekend.

 

[Pigsty333]

This was in the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper 11/4/04:

Leaders of Walt Disney World's largest union late Wednesday asked its workers to authorize a strike, after they said contract negotiations with the company had stalled.

The Service Trades Council -- a group of six unions that represents about 40 percent of the resort's work force -- and Disney executives have been haggling for eight months over pay raises and health and retirement benefits.

Union workers have twice voted down Disney's offers, saying the raises and bonuses the company offered were too small, and the increases in health-care plan contributions were too large.

Disney has said the offers were fair and competitive.

The last vote came in early October. Despite weeks of talks, the two sides have not found common ground.

After hours of negotiations, union leaders cut off talks Wednesday and scheduled a vote on the company's latest proposal.

Council head Joe Condo said he would ask his members to vote it down, a move that would give his leadership team the ability to call a strike.

The council has never asked for that authority during past negotiations, he and other union members said.

"We asked for it this time because the company is not being fair," Condo said.

Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak characterized the talks as productive, and said executives leading the negotiations were surprised to hear the union was pushing for the strike vote. She said the company would continue to press for an agreement.

"This is the kind of posturing that the union will use, and we're aware of that," Polak said late Wednesday.

Walt Disney World has not had a strike since a group of musicians stopped work in the early 1980s. The Service Trades Council, with more than 20,000 members, has never gone on strike.

Workers can vote to accept Disney's latest proposal, or vote it down.

If they vote down the proposal, it will not automatically trigger a strike. Rather, it would give union leaders the authority to strike. And in the short term, at least, they appear unlikely to use it.

Condo said he would seek the intervention of a federal mediator if his members vote down the proposal.

"We're going to do everything possible to reach an agreement before we have to do something drastic like strike," he said.

Sean Mussenden can be reached at 407-420-5664 or smussenden@orlandosentinel.com.



Disney World, skilled workers reach new deal

From Staff and Wire Reports
Posted November 2, 2004


Walt Disney World and leaders of a union representing skilled workers at its theme parks reached a tentative agreement on a new contract over the weekend, and will put it to a vote on Wednesday. The union, the Craft Maintenance Council, represents carpenters, warehouse workers and key electricians and engineers who maintain and inspect theme park rides. The tentative deal must be ratified by a majority of the union's estimated 4,000 members.

 

[Rhonna]

So if they are voting next Thursday (Nov. 11th) on whether to strike, and IF they do decide to strike, how soon would they actually walk off the job?

This is right during our trip there - Yikes!

 

[DancingBear]

Does anybody know what percentage of the resort workers are in a union? I assume that Disney has contingency plans for this, which include management personnel and ramping up on the non-union part-time and seasonal help.

 

[Tooneric]

It looks as though the earliest they could strike is December. Here's an exerpt from an article...

Associated Press
Disney World Union Seeks OK to Strike
Thursday November 4, 5:01 pm ET
By Mike Schneider, AP Business Writer
Disney World's Largest Union Will Ask Members to Authorize Strike


ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Leaders of Walt Disney World's largest union group said Thursday they will ask members to reject the company's latest contract proposal and authorize them to call a strike if further negotiations or mediation fail.


If a strike is authorized, the earliest members could walk out would be December since the contract, which prohibits strikes, was extended through the first week in December.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

My DH was at Epcot 2 weeks ago and said there were NO characters anywhere.

He did see the character caravan go by but he saw none in the restaurants or around the WS.

(He also said it was very eerie-in the park without them)

 

[zurgswife]

Originally posted by tiggerwannabe
My DH was at Epcot 2 weeks ago and said there were NO characters anywhere.

He did see the character caravan go by but he saw none in the restaurants or around the WS.

(He also said it was very eerie-in the park without them)

I have very rarely seen characters around the WS.....just in the character caravan of late...

 

[KNWVIKING]

Ocassionally we'll see B & Beast in France and Tigger in UK..... Epcot isn't about the charactors.

 

[ztbz]

.

I "think" characters are under a different contract

One of the Stronger Unions in the Service Trade Council is the Teamsters Union Local 385. They represents the Walt Disney World Bus Drivers and the Disney Characters who perform during the Parades and Shows as well as the Character Breakfast’s around Walt Disney World.

The Service Trade Council have ask for and received Strike permits (from local county governments) for a Picket Line to be setup at Walt Disney World in the event that the vote on Thursday November 11, 2004 is to Strike. The Likely time frame being discuss by the Unions is from November 14 to January 3 with the Holiday periods as been the likely time for a Strike as this is when Disney is the Busiest and the Hardest to come up with Replacement workers.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

DH was speaking of Pluto & Goofy usually wandering inside one of the FW pavilions, they were not there-we've met Minnie in France, Jasmine in Morocco, Snow White in Germany-

was he imagining things?

Has anyone who's been recently noticed a "lightening" in the amount of characters out & about in WDW in general? Just curious at this point...

 

[KNWVIKING]

We were just there at the end of Oct and charactors were more then abundant in MK and MGM. AK seemed it's normal self over at Camp Min-Mick. I guess I've never noticed many charactors at Epcot other then the double decker busload and the occasional FW country-matching-charactor.

 

[Sarangel]

As for the strike, this thread posts information as of 8:30ish PM on 11/4/04.

 

[ztbz]

See my post in the other thread!

 

[Pigsty333]

Characters in Epcot, besides the ones at the breakfast and the caravan are usually found behind each world showcase. Each country has characters associated with them. Go through each country, walk around it and look for the mouse hand on a red sign by one of the buildings. The charaters are there: Mary Poppins and the penguins (England) Jasmine, Aladdin and Jafar (Morocco), etc.