What this Disney On strike maybe???

[cbusby]

I heard on the news this mornin that Disney may possible go on strike.........How will that effect WDW, Movies, etc. Concerned!!!
or am I jumping the gun..........

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Here is an article, Disney was confident that this would have passed, but it didn't. The most interesting thing I found out...Character Actors are part of the Teamsters.

Disney Workers Reject Contract
Union Negotiators Have Power To Call Strike

POSTED: 2:17 pm EST November 11, 2004
UPDATED: 8:50 am EST November 12, 2004

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- 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.


Previous Stories:
November 9, 2004: Unions Fail To Resolve Differences Before Disney Vote
November 6, 2004: Union Complains About Other Unions In Disney Contract Deal
November 4, 2004: Disney World, Largest Union Reach Contract Deal
November 4, 2004: 20,000 May Strike After Disney Negotiations Break Down

http://www.local6.com/news/3911318/detail.html

 

[DawnCt1]

Can you envision Goofy as a Teamster?

 

[disneyworld!]

I actully heard of this 1 1/2 weeks ago on the news hear. I did not hear anything else on it.

 

[Maleficent13]

Okay...here's something I don't understand. Of course they want to eliminate overtime by hiring more workers. Why is overtime something people see as a "right"?

Of course, I don't get unions as they exist today. Never have; don't like 'em.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

My DH overheard 2 bus drivers talking about it while we were there last week. They are VERY unhappy with their pay rates and were worried about how the strike would affect them.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

disneyworld!, this was a new vote based on new concessions.

 

[PKK/MJK]

The way I understand it from listening to a lot of the CM's talk, the CM's don't consider overtime a 'right'--for many of them it is an absolute necessity!!!!! The pay rate for many of the CM's is very LOW and it's the overtime which helps them make ends meet. While the new contract has a pay increase in it, the increase itself is rather small especially when you compare it to the HUGE increase that Disney wants the CM's to pay for their health insurance. Essentially after everything is deducted from their paycheck, they'll have little or no raise left. Many of these people--especially the characters,most of whom are young--are making miniumun wage. The CM's really NEED that overtime! They spend their days 'making the magic' we all love--and Disney really needs to 'make some magic' for them.

I agree--it is very weird to realize the Princesses and other characters are Teamsters!!!!

 

[Jungle Skipper]

As someone who has been around the Disney Union, I can tell you they have the worst leadership EVER! Nothing will happen. Disney will set the negotiators up in a suite at the GF and spoil the heck out of them and suddenly everything will be back to the statusQuo.

Jungle Josh

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Originally posted by PKK/MJK
While the new contract has a pay increase in it, the increase itself is rather small especially when you compare it to the HUGE increase that Disney wants the CM's to pay for their health insurance. Essentially after everything is deducted from their paycheck, they'll have little or no raise left.

Well that happens to most everybody. Every year we get around a 5% raise and then health insurance increases MORE than that. Luckily we get 6 months of the raise before the new health insurance rates kick in.

 

[Maleficent13]

Miss Jasmine. Our benefits went up 10% in October, and our raises in November were 2%. But we were lucky this year. Last year the benefits went up and we never got the raise.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

as the manager of a Florida company, I can tell you that the insurance rates SKYROCKETED for the past few years and this year they were so outragous that we almost had to stop providing healthcare...My personal rate ( for myself and DD ) was $900.00 a month... 300.00 for me and 600.00 for my DD ( which I pay for ). I make around 25k. Florida insurance rates are getting out of hand...we switched to another carrier with far less coverage.

As a business, it makes sense to hire part timers to avoid paying overtime.

My DH is in a union ( fire department ) and I agree that they have good points, but can you blame a company for trying to make better business changes...it benefits the shareholders and guests.

 

[Maleficent13]

Originally posted by DisneyDmbNut
My personal rate ( for myself and DD ) was $900.00... 300.00 for me and 600.00 for my DD ( which I pay for ).

Is that $900/month?!?!? or $900/year?

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

Originally posted by Maleficent13
Okay...here's something I don't understand. Of course they want to eliminate overtime by hiring more workers. Why is overtime something people see as a "right"?

Of course, I don't get unions as they exist today. Never have; don't like 'em.

It's not just that they want to hire more workers. They want to bring in more college program kids who only work for $6 an hour. For example, while I was there it was nothing for CP's to get scheduled 50-55 hours a week, with 13 hr shifts, but the full timers would only get 40 hrs. We were just so much cheaper to pay. The overtime is there already, but if a CP wanted to switch with a FT CM we were told no, the wage difference was to much. I can understand how the FT CMs feel. Every 4-5 months they get a whole new crop of young kids taking their hours and messing things up for them.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I edited it to be a month...see why I was scared!!

We now have a company that I have far less coverage (HMO) but it is 500.00 a month...I pay about 55.00 a week for my DD

 

[Chicago526]

You really can see both sides of the situation.

On one hand, Disney must pay out a fortune in health care bennifits to their FT people, and as a previous poster said, the premiums are skyrocketing! The more Disney pays in health care, the less they can afford to offer in pay raises. Also, it is more coste effective to hire two PT people and not pay health, than one FT person with health and 10 hours overtime. Duh, of course Disney is doing this! They'd be crazy not too!

On the other hand, you've got CM's trying to make end's meet on very low wages, who depend on the bennifits and overtime pay to make what are very hard jobs worthwhile and put food on the table. I'd hate seeing a college kid taking my overtime, too!

The workers have to understand that Disney can't afford to pay what the workers want due in large part to health care increases, and Disney needs to understand that their workers can't make a living on minimum wage and 10 cent raises. Hopefully a mediator will help bridge the gap!

Oh, and remember this the next time the hotel rates and park tickets go up! Think about what you're paying for, and who gets the money!