BREAKING: Disney, Largest Union Reach Agreement

Gringrinngghost

Gringrinngghost

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney and Union make First Agreement in Months
WESH said:
Disney, Largest Union Reach Agreement
Tentative Contract Must Be Approved By Members
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Disney and its largest union have reached an agreement after months of negotiations.
A tentative contract agreement was reached Friday after a meeting with a federal mediator, a union representative said.
Members of the Service Trades Service Council will vote on the agreement at some point in the near future. The union represents more than 20,000 Walt Disney World employees.
A union spokesman said he was optimistic that the agreement will be approved by the union's members.
The spokesman said the major tipping point was a bonus for some employees.
The two sides began negotiations in September. Their contract has been extended several times since then.
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Orlando Sentinel said:
Disney World, unions have 2nd tentative contract
Negotiators for Walt Disney World and its largest labor group stuck a deal Friday afternoon on a new proposed contract, ending a months-long stalemate, after the resort sweetened bonuses for some workers.
The revised offer will now head to a vote before the full membership of the Service Trades Council, which represents more than 20,000 full-time workers at Disney World. The date of the vote wasn't immediately set.

It will be the second contract vote for workers, who rejected Disney's first offer in October.

"I'm very pleased we were able, after all this time, to finally reach an agreement that allows people to have another chance to vote," Service Trades Council President Harris Raynor said.

The proposed contract is largely similar to the one workers voted down in the fall. It calls for $550 bonuses for all full-time workers and, for those not already at the top of their pay scales, annual raises of between 3 percent and 4 percent over three years.

But during meetings with a federal mediator Friday — the third such session between Disney and union leaders — the resort agreed to reinstate an extra $100 bonus it had initially agreed to pay only if workers had approved the contract on the first vote.

In addition, the resort agreed to pay another $100 to all full-time employees who make $8.50 an hour or less.

But support for the revamped deal isn't unanimous. The leadership of two of the six unions that make up the Service Trades Council — Unite Here! Local 362 and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1625 — voted Friday to oppose the latest agreement.

They argue that the raises are not equitably distributed, as workers in many job categories will get only the minimum 3 percent raises each year. And they say the size of the raises aren't enough to offset rising healthcare premiums, particularly for workers on family-coverage health insurance.

"Some workers with family health insurance will be making less money at the end of the contract than they do today," said Eric Clinton, president of the Unite Here! local, which represents attractions workers, custodians and ticket sellers, among others.
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WFTV said:
Disney, Union Reach Tentative Contract Agreement
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Disney officials and union leaders reached a tentative agreement Friday on a contract for 21,000 full-time workers. The two sides met for the third time to negotiate a new contract.
Four out of the six union leaders agreed on the terms of the contract. The tentative agreement will go to the workers for a vote.
Disney previously had proposed a $550 bonus and as much as a 3-percent annual raise for three years. Disney said it has put forth a fair offer, but union officials claim the rising cost of health insurance will cancel out any pay hike.
Now, the terms include an extra $100, making the bonus for workers $650. They will also get a 3-percent yearly raise. Also, anyone making less than $8.50 per hour, will get a $750 bonus.
The union was in one hotel room and Disney executives were in another. A mediator walked back and forth between the rooms with offers and counter-offers.
The talks reached a dramatic point when, earlier this week, workers dressed up in "Toy Story 3" costumes to protest against the company.
Some workers make as little as $7.45 an hour at a company that posted a 54-percent jump in earnings last quarter.
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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
It will be interesting to see what this final agreement is.

I have a very strong hunch it's nearly identical to the final offer Disney already gave the union last year. :cool:
 
W

wizards8507

Active Member
TP2000 said:
It will be interesting to see what this final agreement is.

I have a very strong hunch it's nearly identical to the final offer Disney already gave the union last year. :cool:
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Yeah, everyone in the unions are always eager and ready to strike until they realize they won't get paid.
 
Gringrinngghost

Gringrinngghost

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
kermitdefrog said:
What's the union?
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Service Trades Council is all of them together which are the following:
*UNITEHERE 362!
*INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS LOCAL 385
*UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS 1625
*LOCAL 737
*TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION INTERNATIONAL UNION 1908
*INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF THEATRICAL & STAGE EMPLOYEES 631
 
Jimmy Thick

Jimmy Thick

Well-Known Member
And the impotent union buckles to Disney. Well done, nice to see those union dues hard at work.


[/sarc]


Jimmy Thick- Train kept a rollin' all night long...
 
PalisadesPkteer

PalisadesPkteer

Active Member
Raven, How do you and your fellow Cast members feel about the proposed contract?

I have always felt that cast members for the most part should get more.

That being said, I am making the same hourly rate I made in 2005 or 2006. And the permanent workers will not get pay raises again. This has been going on for 4 years or more. So even though it doesn't seem like much, 3 - 4 % sounds not too bad. Yes I understand the fact you could be getting less because of health care costs. But everyone where I work is paying more for health care, higher deductables and has not gotten any kind of raise what so ever with none in the foreseeable future.

I know you may all hate this contract. But just imagine if you got no raise at all to cover the health care cost. That is where myself and my fellow workers are at.
 
M

majorrfb

Member
These are difficult times for all workers. Minimal pay raises (if any at all) rising health care cost and rising taxes-state and local. :hammer::brick:
 
828tnt

828tnt

Well-Known Member
on it's face, it seems as though this is positive news. obviously there will be compromise. hopefully, it's a reasonable one for all.
 
disneydata

disneydata

Well-Known Member
So they're offering the same contract as last time, but instead of $100 to vote for the contract, they're just adding it to the regular bonus?

This is terrible. I hope it gets voted down.
 
raven

raven

Well-Known Member
Personally I am voting "yes" because it's a sweeter deal for me (I voted "yes" in the fall as well). But CMs in that union that have been here longer than 5 years don't like it because they will be making less at the end of the deal. Let's not forget that Disney used to cover everything. Now suddenly CMs with a family of 4 have to pay $500/month in health care yet wages stay the same. So you can see why it would be voted down. Please understand that this was dropped in their laps and now many have to choose between their families health or food.
 
B

BigThunderMatt

Well-Known Member
raven said:
Please understand that this was dropped in their laps and now many have to choose between their families health or food.
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It is my personal observation that you have 4 general types of cast members:

1. Full-Timers that have been in front-line entry level roles for so many years that they're making a decent enough hourly wage that they aspire to nothing higher, even though they could be making more in other positions elsewhere. These folks rarely, if ever, finished college, and if they did they never did anything worthwhile afterward.

2. Full-Timers and Part-Timers that are either converted CP's looking to start a career, or folks that are in a Leadership Casting Call pool awaiting another Temporary Assignment or Statused leadership position. These folks are usually very hard working and enthusiastic despite the poor pay.

3. Seasonals and Part-Time Retirees: Seasonals are either snow birds who only come down in the winter, or former CPs that are coming back briefly throughout the year to maintain their connection with the company. The retirees don't really care about hours so much most of the time, as many of them just do the job to defeat boredom.

4. CP's. The bread and butter of Disney's work-force: cheap labor and a method to undermine union numbers at its heart. Yes, I'm a former CP but even I'm not naive enough to believe that the College Program is any more than the aforementioned. IF there ever was a strike and all of Disney's full-timers called in for the day, you can bet Vista, Chatham and Patterson would all be ghost towns as Disney would have all their CP's making bank in the absence of the more expensive full-timers.

It is my opinion that group 1 are the most vocal and least effective cast members out of WDW's entire work force. They demand better wages and benefits for an entry-level position, when in reality they are paid industry standard for the most part relative to cost of living. Not only that, but many other companies in the industry that run seasonal parks aren't even unionized and treat their employees like absolute crap.

Pay and benefits are relative to the skill and complexity of the job you are tasked to perform. I work in attractions. Do I think I deserve more than $7.70 an hour for standing in one place for 45 minutes pushing a button, telling people where to sit, and pushing strollers? Not really. If you want better pay and better benefits get a job that isn't entry level.
 
S

sophiesmom

New Member
BigThunderMatt said:
It is my personal observation that you have 4 general types of cast members:

1. Full-Timers that have been in front-line entry level roles for so many years that they're making a decent enough hourly wage that they aspire to nothing higher, even though they could be making more in other positions elsewhere. These folks rarely, if ever, finished college, and if they did they never did anything worthwhile afterward.

2. Full-Timers and Part-Timers that are either converted CP's looking to start a career, or folks that are in a Leadership Casting Call pool awaiting another Temporary Assignment or Statused leadership position. These folks are usually very hard working and enthusiastic despite the poor pay.

3. Seasonals and Part-Time Retirees: Seasonals are either snow birds who only come down in the winter, or former CPs that are coming back briefly throughout the year to maintain their connection with the company. The retirees don't really care about hours so much most of the time, as many of them just do the job to defeat boredom.

4. CP's. The bread and butter of Disney's work-force: cheap labor and a method to undermine union numbers at its heart. Yes, I'm a former CP but even I'm not naive enough to believe that the College Program is any more than the aforementioned. IF there ever was a strike and all of Disney's full-timers called in for the day, you can bet Vista, Chatham and Patterson would all be ghost towns as Disney would have all their CP's making bank in the absence of the more expensive full-timers.

It is my opinion that group 1 are the most vocal and least effective cast members out of WDW's entire work force. They demand better wages and benefits for an entry-level position, when in reality they are paid industry standard for the most part relative to cost of living. Not only that, but many other companies in the industry that run seasonal parks aren't even unionized and treat their employees like absolute crap.

Pay and benefits are relative to the skill and complexity of the job you are tasked to perform. I work in attractions. Do I think I deserve more than $7.70 an hour for standing in one place for 45 minutes pushing a button, telling people where to sit, and pushing strollers? Not really. If you want better pay and better benefits get a job that isn't entry level.
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:sohappy::sohappy:
 
Wilt Dasney

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
The Sentinel says the vote is scheduled for Feb. 25.

I'm glad the $100 bonus is now a genuine perk, instead of a carrot to get a contract approved on management's timetable. That struck me as manipulative and demeaning.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
raven said:
It's funny how I have to get the information on my union through this website or the news. No one at work seemed to know any of this information and we are all paying union members. :(
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I belonged to a union for awhile, and the union was happy to take my dues money (and it was BIG money at that), yet had an entirely ineffective system of communicating, or not communicating at all, with its paying members. That was quite awhile ago though.

In this day and age it's completely unacceptable for a union leadership to not communicate quickly and effectively with the members who pay you money to "serve" them. Websites, Email, Twitter, mass-text messaging, etc. All of those are at their disposal, but it doesn't sound like they are using them effectively. It doesn't sound like they are even posting updated paper fliers up on the union bulletin board. But I imagine they've got a big plate of donuts and snacks at the union hall meetings where the same dozen people show up each month to grouse. :rolleyes:

But the union will happily take money out of your paycheck though, right? And they'll pat themselves on the back next week about the "great contract" they "won" for you right? (Even though it's the exact same contract Disney had been offering all along, before all this hassle the union stirred up.) All that is straight out of the dusty old union playbook. How funny, and sad, that they haven't changed one bit in the 21st century with all this technology around them.

I feel sorry for the deserving, hard-working CM's that pay these union bosses their hard earned money for that kind of treatment. :(

.
 
Alektronic

Alektronic

Well-Known Member
raven said:
It's funny how I have to get the information on my union through this website or the news. No one at work seemed to know any of this information and we are all paying union members. :(
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If you look at the STC website they have the current info:
http://servicetradescouncil.org/stc2005/main/councilnews.html

The Contract has been extended through March 17, 2011.
We were able to resolve some specific job classification issues as well as bonus adjustments
Please contact your Bargaining Unit Committee Members for details.
FULL TIME CONTRACT VOTE
February 25, 2011
VOTING LOCATIONS
TCU 1908 and Worker's United 737 - Port Orleans
Unite Here 362 and UFCW 1625 - Contemporary
Teamsters Local 385 - TTC
IATSE 631 - Hollywood Studios
Transportation will be provided to voting locations

Or Unite here! Local 352
http://www.uniteherelocal362.blogspot.com/

Joint press release from UFCW and UNITE HERE! on contract agreement



DISNEY UNIONS DIVIDED OVER CONTRACT ENDORSEMENT

Lake Buena Vista, FL, February 11, 2011 – After nearly nine months of negotiations, the Service Trades Council Union (STCU) and Walt Disney World will take a revised contract offer before the membership for a vote on February 25, 2011. Disney’s first offer was rejected in October, and a Federal Mediator was brought in to assist the parties.

Although Disney steadfastly maintained that it’s first offer was “fair and competitive” and not going to improve, the Company did reinstate a $100 bonus that was an incentive to ratify on the first vote and it subsequently pulled out of the offer when it was rejected. Disney also added an extra $100 for employees making $8.50 or less to the $550 bonus already on the table. This movement represents nearly 2.5 million dollars extra on the table than before.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1625 (UFCW) and UNITE HERE! Local 362 voted to oppose the current offer and will urge their members to vote to reject it. Four of the six STCU Affiliate unions: Local 737; Teamsters Local 385; TCU District 1908 and IATSE Local 631 voted to recommend the contract.

Throughout negotiations, the UFCW and UNITE HERE! maintained that raises were not equally distributed. Over 30 job classifications represented not only by their unions, but the other four STCU Affiliates, will be getting the lowest wage increases of 3%. Additionally, the rise in health care premiums will not be offset by the raises and many employees will make less at the end of the contract than they do today.

“We feel that we got the Company’s attention, and it made a difference,” said Isaac Cropp, Vice-President of UNITE HERE! Local 362. The opposing unions took action after the first offer was rejected by leafleting, holding rallies, and producing the video, “MOUSETRAPPED 2010”, in which union members told their stories about struggling to survive on Disney wages. “We are disappointed that our fellow unions did not choose to stand with us and fight for a fair contract for all, as we know Disney could have done more,” said Julee Jerkovich, Secretary-Treasurer of UFCW Local 1625.

The Service Trades Council Union represents nearly 29,000 hard working cast members at the Walt Disney World Resort.
 

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