Voted down!

[RoLaren]

UPDATE
Unions vote against Disney contract

Associated Press
Posted November 11, 2004, 9:29 PM EST

They voted down the new contract...they want to call in a federal mediator before a strike.

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Members of Disney's largest union group voted down a contract proposal Thursday for a third time and authorized union leaders to call a strike if necessary.

Union members cheered when the vote was announced: 3,686 against and 2,827 for the contract.

"We voted it down!" said Tina Walden, 48, a vacation planner at Walt Disney World.

A strike is unlikely in the near future, because union officials first plan to call for a federal mediator.

Opponents of the contract said the proposed wage increase was too small to offset the increases in health care costs.

The contract proposal from the Walt Disney Co. was offered to six unions that cover 40 percent of the theme park's 52,000-person work force. It has divided the Service Trades Council Union, the six-union group that represents laundry workers, costumed characters, bus drivers, hotel and concessions workers and others.

Two of the member unions, the Teamsters Local 385 and the Unite HERE! Local 362, advised their members to reject the contract proposal. The two unions cover about 6,000 workers. The other four unions recommended approval.

"They're for family values," Mike Stapleton, president of Teamster Local 385, said of Disney. "I think family values are putting food on the table and getting medicine for your children."

Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak called the proposal "fair and competitive."

"We've reached an agreement that is good for both cast members and the company," Polak said.

Union members have rejected two previous contract proposals since talks began in May. To show their dissatisfaction with previous proposals, union leaders picketed outside a Disney Store in New York and passed out leaflets to tourists at Orlando International Airport.

The vote was being closely watched because Disney World sets the standards for wages and benefits in Orlando's tourism-driven job market.

Disney bus driver Mike Luff, who earns $13.52 an hour, worried that the new contract would have allowed Disney to use more part-time workers, who aren't paid benefits, to save money. That could have cut into the eight to 13 hours of overtime he earns each week. He voted against the proposal.

"They want to eliminate most of the overtime," said Luff, who is a Teamster.

Under the contract proposal:


Nontipped workers who currently earn top scale would have received a 20-cents-an-hour increase and a lump-sum bonus of between $1,500 and $1,700 during the contract's first year. In the second year, they would have received another lump sum, and in the third year they would get a 25-cents-an-hour wage increase.


The starting minimum wage of $6.70 an hour would have increased by 10 cents an hour for each year of the contract. Other workers in between the minimum and top scale wages would have received a 4 percent annual increase.


The company would have guaranteed 32 hours of work a week, up from 30 hours.


The threshold for receiving benefits would have gone from working 25 to 30 hours a week

 

[ztbz]

You beat me to it, just got word from my union sources. Vote Count is as follows:

2827 Yes votes

3686 NO VOTES,

Don't know the next step, but not time to strike yet.

 

[Bob O]

They can strike anytime after Dec 13,2004m but not before(lol).

 

[KNWVIKING]

Ditto what Bob said !!!

 

[WDSearcher]

Bob's vacation aside .... ... the contract has been extended to November 17, and no strike can take place while the workers are under contract. So it's at least another week before anything strike-wise would happen.