BREAKING: Disney, Largest Union Reach Agreement

[spoodles]

That is only for non-skilled jobs that are entry level. Skilled jobs or people that have an actual trade are paid very well compared to others in the Orlando area.

You must be just referring to skilled labor positions. In professional office jobs there's no way Disney is commensurate with other businesses in the area, unless something has changed dramatically in the last few years.

 

[Pseybert]

:roflol:

 

[Laufschneller65]

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.

Well said Big Thunder Matt... Intelligent breakdown of the Disney Cast Member Higherarchy..... it is possible we have worked with each other for I was once, Big Thunder Karl.

 

[Alektronic]

You must be just referring to skilled labor positions. In professional office jobs there's no way Disney is commensurate with other businesses in the area, unless something has changed dramatically in the last few years.

Are you talking about hourly or salaried positions?

 

[spoodles]

Salaried.

 

[scottnj1966]

This is a sad state of affairs. Unions.

I have not recieved a raise for 3 years.
Most of use are happy we still have a job.
Layoffs everywhere.
Medical insurance for us keeps getting raised.

Now your telling me this Union is fighting to get more money for Disney Employee's, bonuses, and whatever else.

Do they not understand whats going on in the country, in Florida?
All this will do is raise the costs to guests once again and layoff more employees at Disney. I for one am tired of everything at Disney costing more and more while we are tighting up our belts.

Everyone needs to wait until our economy turns around.

 

[MattyDrums]

This is a sad state of affairs. Unions.

I have not recieved a raise for 3 years.
Most of use are happy we still have a job.
Layoffs everywhere.
Medical insurance for us keeps getting raised.

Now your telling me this Union is fighting to get more money for Disney Employee's, bonuses, and whatever else.
QUOTE]

That is LITERALLY the purpose of the union. People wouldn't pay union dues if they didn't fight for the best for their employees.

If Disney were in real trouble then maybe the employees would look into giving up some, but its not like they have much to give up.

 

[Duckberg]

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.

One of the most interesting posts in this thread! Duckberg

 

[thelookingglass]

That is LITERALLY the purpose of the union. People wouldn't pay union dues if they didn't fight for the best for their employees.

If Disney were in real trouble then maybe the employees would look into giving up some, but its not like they have much to give up.

If the best the union could fight for and get from Disney was literally almost the exact same contract, then they don't seem to be a very useful or powerful union, IMO.

 

[TP2000]

If the best the union could fight for and get from Disney was literally almost the exact same contract, then they don't seem to be a very useful or powerful union, IMO.

Exactly. It seems like the union just wasted a huge amount of time, resources and energy for six months to be right about the same place they were when Disney made their final offer to them just before the contract expired.

But now at least the CM's can see where all their dues money goes to, and who in the union is earning much more per hour than the CM's are for keeping it all going year after year after year.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

I think any union in a "right-to-work" state is by definition going to be very weak in comparision to unions who are allowed to work in "closed shops." I'm honestly not sure what the point is of even having a union when workers aren't required to join.

 

[raven]

The bonus is being dropped into our checks tomorrow morning. Too bad they didn't cut a different check because they taxed the heck out of it. After the bonus $ I only had an extra $100 of the money that I actually earned. America.

 

[fyn]

The bonus is being dropped into our checks tomorrow morning. Too bad they didn't cut a different check because they taxed the heck out of it. After the bonus $ I only had an extra $100 of the money that I actually earned. America.

How would a different check have changed the overall taxed amount?

 

[Tom Morrow]

Raven, I didn't even think of that!

fyn: because by compiling it with the weekly paycheck, it means much more of the money we actually earned for the previous week will be taxed (nearly all of it) in addition to more of the bonus money itself.

 

[fyn]

Raven, I didn't even think of that!

fyn: because by compiling it with the weekly paycheck, it means much more of the money we actually earned for the previous week will be taxed (nearly all of it) in addition to more of the bonus money itself.

But that should even out at year end. I guess if it were an issue now, does Disney let you modify your witholdings?

 

[JustInTime]

The bonus is being dropped into our checks tomorrow morning. Too bad they didn't cut a different check because they taxed the heck out of it. After the bonus $ I only had an extra $100 of the money that I actually earned. America.

That is not the way it works. If it is not included inside your paycheck, the government considers it a reward. And the reward tax is almost 45%. My workplace used to cut 2 checks. Now they combine them into one for our bonuses and such. And while it bumps me into a higher tax bracket, I get much, much more money. You are better off having it into your weekly pay. They did you a favor.

 

[juniorthomas]

That doesn't change the fact that, compared to similar jobs, in the area, Disney still pays less.

You can make more at an Orlando McDonalds than you can working at Pecos Bills, and not have to drive into work early just to catch a bus from the parking lot, then trek all the way across a theme park to work, and the additional standards Disney requires of it's employees.

So, the answer for many is, "Well, go work at McDonalds then!" You know what? As I said earlier in this thread - that's exactly what has happened.

Unions are like bacteria. Some bacteria is good, some of it downright necessary for survival, and some is bad. To say all unions are either good or bad is being overly simplistic.

Union or not, Disney pays for crap, and yet so many people have such a hard time understanding why the quality of the average CM (that people talk about endlessly, right up there with complaining about the Dining Plan) has gone down so in the past 5, 10, 15 years, and the reason is blatantly obvious. People need a decent wage, so they go elsewhere - and that's why we are left with the few CM's that stay because they love working there, the rest who are just there until something better comes along, and then the rest are the CP'ers, who know their time is finite and many (though not all) overall don't have the investment of caring about the quality of work.

Not rocket science here.

Good call on the bacteria thing.

 

[juniorthomas]

Most Ride Technicians (or Maintenence) start at $29.75/hr. They have no guest interaction and I've only met a few that actually stay awake and "work" their entire shift. Most snooze in their lairs without lifting so much as an eyelid the entire time.

Sad but true if you knew them like I do. Look at all of the special effects and animatroics, lights and other elements of a ride that are down for long periods of time, if not working anymore at all. If you ask me, that's way too much to be paid for this kind of stuff.

No matter what, there are going to be good workers and bad workers everywhere.

 

[juniorthomas]

Exactly. It seems like the union just wasted a huge amount of time, resources and energy for six months to be right about the same place they were when Disney made their final offer to them just before the contract expired.

But now at least the CM's can see where all their dues money goes to, and who in the union is earning much more per hour than the CM's are for keeping it all going year after year after year.

But the union will sell it as a major win, in order to justify their existence. A fairly good example of how outdated unions are.

 

[Tom Morrow]

That is not the way it works. If it is not included inside your paycheck, the government considers it a reward. And the reward tax is almost 45%. My workplace used to cut 2 checks. Now they combine them into one for our bonuses and such. And while it bumps me into a higher tax bracket, I get much, much more money. You are better off having it into your weekly pay. They did you a favor.

Hmm, I did not know this. When you put it that way, I guess it is better to just be included with our paycheck.

No matter what, there are going to be good workers and bad workers everywhere.

The problem is that the overwhelming majority of WDW maintenance has said mentality.