Breaking News - UNITE HERE and ally's file lawuit today regarding Mesasure L/Living Wage Initiative

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just got a phone call, the expected lawsuit regarding which companies are subject to Measure L was filed today. A press conference is being held near City Hall by UNITE HERE announcing it.

No news stories yet, and I haven't got a copy of the lawsuit yet.

So more details to follow.

Back to work, more later...
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So five workers, being represented by UNITE HERE lawyers are suing the city, saying Disneyland and the Sodexo Group should be subject to Measure L due to the Parking Structure Financing. They also want it to be a Class Action Suit.

This was expected, but interesting timing. Seems their wish of Angel Stadium problems didn't happen, so a change in strategy. The Union still is looking at a potential recall on the November 2020 ballot, and needs to find a way to get support for it. They don't expect it to work, but want to drive voters to vote on other items on the ballot.

Same with the lawsuit, the city attorney and multiple experts say it is not a direct city subsidy, the term the union used when they wrote Measure L.

The news articles are coming out, will link when I get home. In Irvine about to enter a meeting.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
My roommate who works at the resort brought this home today...

20191209_174134-01.jpeg


I remember hearing that the foods union just got a raise, and didn't most other unions get raises as well? What exactly is this lawsuit for?
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

TP2000

Well-Known Member
How many times have I griped about that damn parking structure financial setup from the 1990's?

Eisner just had to scrape a few dimes off the cost of Resort expansion, didn't he?

I don't think the unions are going to win this in court, their 2018 ballot measure was written quite clearly and didn't include the structure financing from 1997. But it still seems so dumb for Disney to not have just paid for its own parking structure 20 years ago.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I assume Disney's legal team is confident in their position, but one does wonder what the theoretical fallout would be if this went against them.
On a train, but quickly, the lawsuit is against the city, but Disney Legal will be able to be part of the full legal team. The likelihood of them losing is small.

If the city loses, and also loses multiple possible appeals, it would make all Anaheim based CM's subject to the Measure L wage rules.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

>>The Coalition of Resort Labor Unions (CRLU) has arranged for a class-action lawsuit in hopes of convincing a judge to essentially re-write a 2018 minimum wage ballot initiative it sponsored so it would apply to the Disneyland Resort . The lawsuit, announced yesterday at a press conference in front of Anaheim City Hall, names the Disneyland Resort and SodexoMagic – a partnership between French food services company Sodexo and basketball legend Magic Johnson that operates two Starbucks in the Resort.


The CRLU, a union group led by militant UNITE-HERE Local 11, placed Measure L on the November 2018 ballot to impose dramatic minimum wage increases on Anaheim Resort business with economic assistance agreements with the City of Anaheim – all the way to $18 an hour by 2022. The union coalition spent more than $1 million on a deceptive campaign for the initiative, which passed in November 2018 with 54% of the vote.


Measure L applies to businesses and employers with more than 25 employees that have an agreement with the city to “receive a rebate of transient occupancy tax, sales tax, entertainment tax, property tax or other taxes.” According to Measure L, this also includes contractors, subcontractors, lessees, sublessees, tenants and subtenants of the business that directly receives the tax rebate.


And this is the crux of the matter: the Disneyland Resort does not receive any tax rebates from Anaheim. The class action lawsuit is an attempt by the resort unions to convince the court to re-write the ballot measure they wrote.


The Plain Language of Measure L Doesn’t Apply To Disney
After Measure L qualified for the ballot but several weeks before its passage, the Disneyland Resort cancelled a planned $1 billion luxury hotel project that included a Transient Occupancy Tax rebate agreement with the city. It also asked the city to cancel the gate tax moratorium extension that was part of its agreement to invest up to $2 billion in the Resort (which Disney carried through on despite relinquishing the tax moratorium).


As a result, Measure L, if enacted, would not apply to the Disneyland Resort.


Disney’s action caught the UNITE-HERE Local 11 and the other CRLU unions flatfooted, their campaign messaging was entirely based forcing the Disneyland Resort to pay cast members “a living wage,” Disney decision threw the Measure L campaign for a loop. The union coalition responded by ignoring the language of their own initiative and claiming Measure L does apply to Disney based on the convoluted theory that the 1996 bonds that funded the creation of the Anaheim Resort – including the Mickeyt and Friends parking structure – constitute tax rebates to Disney.


The class action lawsuit is a continuation of that spin in the form of a lawsuit.


It’s worth remembering that until Disneyland withdrew from its tax rebate agreements, Measure L proponents never advanced this claim. Their campaign was entirely focused on the gate tax moratorium and the TOT rebate for the 4-diamond hotel project.


If the CRLU had intended for Measure L to include the 1996 bonds in the definition of a “tax rebate,” they would have spelled that in the initiative of the language. They didn’t.

At yesterday’s press conference sign, union members held signs saying “Uphold The Will Of Anaheim Voters.”


In reality, they are seeking the opposite by asking a judge to re-write the language of an initiative after is has been approved by the voters. They care less about “the will of the voters” than about the political agenda of their unions.


Litigation Deja Vu
This isn’t the first time UNITE-HERE Local 11 has used lawsuits as a political club. In 2013, the Anaheim City Council approved a TOT rebate for the two luxury hotel projects adjacent to the GardenWalk Mall. The hotels employees


Afterward, the left-wing advocacy group OCCORD – founded and funded by Local 11 – filed a lawsuit to have the approval thrown out. Although the lawsuit was baseless on its face and was ultimately thrown out by the courts, it nonetheless delayed the hotels for several years – driving up their costs, depriving the city of $33 million in TOT tax revenue and throwing into question whether the second hotel would ever be built.


Indeed, an OCCORD staffer emceed yesterday’s press conference. Also on hand were members of Clergy & Laity United For Economic Justice (CLUE) – another progressive political group funded by Resort unions.


The timing is interesting, because it is apparent from the lawsuit that is was written months ago. For example, it states that the hourly wage of plaintiff Regina Delgado “is $12.00 until October 1, 2019” and that of plaintiff Alicia Grijalva “is $12.00 until July 1, 2019” – talking about those dates as if they are in the future when they have already come and gone.


Not much has been said thus far about the plaintiffs, The lawsuit gives their names, ages, work site, length of employment and hourly wage.


One, Thomas Bray, has been a bell man at the Disneyland Hotel since 1988. The lawsuit states his hourly wage as $12.25 – however, bell hops make most of their money in tips – especially those who work at a luxury property like the Disneyland Hotel. Bray is also a long-time UNITE-HERE activist: in 2011 he traveled to the Disney shareholders meeting in Salt Lake City to protest


One of the press conference speakers was plaintiff Kathleen Grace, a barista at the HarborPoint Starbucks inside Disneyland, which is owned by SodexoMagic. She complained that “with the high cost of living, mortgage, food, gas, it’s really difficult to manage all those items.”


Here is Grace’s Facebook profile photo updated in September 2019, showing her at what looks like Waikiki Beach in Hawaii:





This drama is just beginning. Stay tuned.<<
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
One of the press conference speakers was plaintiff Kathleen Grace, a barista at the HarborPoint Starbucks inside Disneyland, which is owned by SodexoMagic. She complained that “with the high cost of living, mortgage, food, gas, it’s really difficult to manage all those items.”

Here is Grace’s Facebook profile photo updated in September 2019, showing her at what looks like Waikiki Beach in Hawaii:

Kathy-Grace-in-Hawaii-FB-9-12-19.jpg


Oh, come on. That photo was taken waaaaay down the beach in Waikiki, near Kuhio Beach where all the much cheaper hotels are. What Starbucks barista who badmouths her employer at city council meetings can't afford a week in Waikiki if she's staying in that part of town? 🤣

Now if she had her photo taken a half mile to the east in front of the Halekulani, I might have been impressed. :cool:
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
Maybe one day it will be cheaper for Disney to go to a city that actually wants them and the business they bring in.

If Disney can povide a “living wage” in Anaheim to all themepark workers, I’d quit my job and move there. Why have the stress of a corporate job when I can sweep the floors of Gaston’s Tavern and make just as much?

I've often thought the same. If I could quit school and live a decent middle class life selling balloons on Main Street, I'd do it.

What's funny? Disney is already paying a 'living wage' if we're going by hourly figures. MIT calculated the cost of living in the area to be $14.71... so this lawsuit seems a bit misguided, every worker in the resort makes $15 or more. The only people not making a living wage are the seasonal/part time employees... but in their case I think it's expected they have a second job of some sort to make ends meet. Though I think this lawsuit is for some kind of back pay? To be honest I'm still not entirely clear on what exactly they're suing over, and what the end goal is... I can imagine there are some managers at TDA who are getting real tired of dealing with this.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I've often thought the same. If I could quit school and live a decent middle class life selling balloons on Main Street, I'd do it.

What's funny? Disney is already paying a 'living wage' if we're going by hourly figures. MIT calculated the cost of living in the area to be $14.71... so this lawsuit seems a bit misguided, every worker in the resort makes $15 or more. The only people not making a living wage are the seasonal/part time employees... but in their case I think it's expected they have a second job of some sort to make ends meet. Though I think this lawsuit is for some kind of back pay? To be honest I'm still not entirely clear on what exactly they're suing over, and what the end goal is... I can imagine there are some managers at TDA who are getting real tired of dealing with this.
Got up early, had an interesting event last night, a fairly new friend was there, she is a member of Congressperson Lou Correa's staff. (I also know him, first time I met him and his family was at a Knott's VIP event, I started the day in Istanbul, Turkey, flew 14 hours and ended up at Knott's (we spent the night at the resort hotel), also a couple of city councilmembers and other influencers.

Had my first Rebecca touchy feely on Sunday night at Candlelight. That is another story.

Anyway, there is a method to UNITE HERE's madness, and I will try and explain when I get some time. Of course, things to do today. It is tied to the Angel Stadium sale, among other things.

Thanks for understanding my insane schedule....
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

>>One of the plaintiffs, Tom Bray, has been a bellman at the Disneyland Hotel for more than 30 years. He and some of his co-workers campaigned for Measure L. After it passed, they were looking forward to a pay raise at the start of 2019.


"We kept looking at our paystub every week for the first month or two," Bray said. "Eventually we figured, OK, they're not going to pay us."


Bray currently earns $12.25 per hour, plus tips. He and four other workers are now suing Disney, seeking back pay for themselves and hundreds of other workers who the plaintiffs say are earning sub-living wages. <<

>>The plaintiffs' attorney, Randy Renick, estimates at least 400 workers at the resort are still earning less than the $15 an hour he says the measure requires.<<

Yes, just 400 Tipped employees, many of which gets Hundreds of Dollars in tips a day...

There is more to WHY UNITE HERE is doing this, it has to do with political power, and the fact UNITE HERE, OOCORD and CAIR have been losing every battle they have been working on, including a planned recall in Anaheim.

They need something to rally their troops.

At Monday's Angel Stadium Informational Forum at ARTIC, there were 4 protestors sitting in lawn chairs, including the infamous Jeaninne Robbins, who is running for City Council...

https://www.anaheimblog.net/2019/11...eim-jeannine-robbins-and-the-heckler-brigade/

More later, just doing my morning news reading before heading to the Honda Center area to prepare Food Bags for Seniors.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

>>A lawsuit filed by a handful of current and former Disneyland employees may lead to a court’s judgment on whether the Anaheim theme park operator is paying certain employees enough.


The legal question is whether Walt Disney Co. is exempt from requirements of Measure L, a “living wage” initiative Anaheim voters passed in November 2018. It called for businesses in the Anaheim Resort District that receive city tax subsidies to pay workers at least $15 an hour starting in January 2019, plus $1-an-hour increases annually through 2022.


Anaheim City Attorney Robert Fabela announced about a month before voters decided the measure that Disney would not be subject to its rules, because the company canceled tax incentive deals that would have funneled millions in hotel guest taxes away from city coffers and back to Disney in return for the construction of a luxury hotel – a development since dropped.


City leaders had previously said Anaheim was short on high-end accommodations, and such tax deals would help persuade businesses to make the big investment required to build them.




The city is not named in the lawsuit filed Friday, Dec. 6, in Orange County Superior Court; the defendants are Disney and Sodexo. But the case challenges Fabela’s determination that a 1996 deal – in which Anaheim borrowed $546 million to build the Mickey & Friends parking garage and make street, landscaping and other improvements in the resort – wouldn’t be considered a subsidy as described by the ballot initiative.


“The parking garage is on Disney property. Disney operates it and keeps all the revenues. When all of the construction costs are paid back, Disney will own the garage free and clear,” the lawsuit states. “All this was paid for with what Disney would have otherwise paid in taxes.”


Disney spokeswoman Liz Jaeger said Monday, “We have yet to see the lawsuit, but the union coalition is well aware that the city attorney has previously looked at this issue and clearly stated that Measure L does not apply to Disneyland Resort.”


Unite Here Local 11 and several other unions representing Disney workers had campaigned for the ballot measure and are backing the workers who brought the recent suit.

City officials have concluded the measure applies to two properties: Doubletree Guest Suites under an older agreement, and the Anaheim Hotel, owned by Wincome Group (which would receive subsidies under a 2016 deal), city spokesman Mike Lyster wrote in an email. He added, “We welcome and will take a look at any inquiry about who Measure L might apply to.”




The lawsuit’s five named plaintiffs, one of whom works in the park for food service contractor Sodexo, are seeking class action status. A dollar amount of the damages requested is not specified.


The plaintiffs were earning between $12 and $14.25 an hour, according to the suit; it also alleges some overtime and other money owed to the employees was not paid.


Disney has been criticized because a 2018 union-commissioned survey said some theme park workers struggled to afford food and health care or lived in their cars. But company officials have pointed to recent contracts with many of the park’s labor groups that raised wages to $15 or more per hour, and other new benefits including programs to pay employees’ college tuition and assist with child care.<<
 

shambolicdefending

Well-Known Member
If Disney can povide a “living wage” in Anaheim to all themepark workers, I’d quit my job and move there. Why have the stress of a corporate job when I can sweep the floors of Gaston’s Tavern and make just as much?
This his been the big disconnect for me in these "living wage" movements. I support the existence of labor unions, and certainly believe in a level of government oversight of private business. But, this idea that every job - big or small - has to pay a "liveable" wage seems totally contrary to common sense.


Maybe one day it will be cheaper for Disney to go to a city that actually wants them and the business they bring in.
This has been talked about before, but if Walt were looking to build Disneyland today, instead of in the early 1950s, there's not a snowball's chance in heck he'd do it in California. He'd either skip straight to Florida, or settle in Texas.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Not to pick on Ms. Grace, but this quote got me again...

One of the press conference speakers was plaintiff Kathleen Grace, a barista at the HarborPoint Starbucks inside Disneyland, which is owned by SodexoMagic. She complained that “with the high cost of living, mortgage, food, gas, it’s really difficult to manage all those items.”

Notice how she said "mortgage" instead of "rent"?

If I were a union boss looking for a Cast Member to use in my anti-Disney publicity campaign, I would use a Cast Member who lives in their car and can't afford their medication, instead of using a Cast Member who just took a Hawaiian vacation and has a mortgage on a house.

Disney is already paying a 'living wage' if we're going by hourly figures. MIT calculated the cost of living in the area to be $14.71... so this lawsuit seems a bit misguided, every worker in the resort makes $15 or more. The only people not making a living wage are the seasonal/part time employees... but in their case I think it's expected they have a second job of some sort to make ends meet. Though I think this lawsuit is for some kind of back pay? To be honest I'm still not entirely clear on what exactly they're suing over, and what the end goal is...

Ballot Measure L started at mandating a $15 an hour wage in 2019, but then rose $1 an hour every year until it reached a mandated $18 an hour in 2022. And then after 2022 the mandated minimum wage would rise annually based on the inflation rate. But the union hid that part in all their marketing and publicity, and pretended it was just a $15 wage that then stayed stagnant.

Got up early, had an interesting event last night, a fairly new friend was there, she is a member of Congressperson Lou Correa's staff.

I really like Congressman Correa! He's not my rep, but his district runs right up to mine along the Costa Mesa Freeway, and I met him at a thing in Orange a few years ago. He's a good, solid moderate Democrat, with a very sane head on his shoulders and a voting record in DC to match. Nice family man too.

There is more to WHY UNITE HERE is doing this, it has to do with political power, and the fact UNITE HERE, OOCORD and CAIR have been losing every battle they have been working on, including a planned recall in Anaheim.

They need something to rally their troops.

What I can't understand is why their "troops" keep buying into all their nonsense. What a monumental waste of their union dues money! If I was forced to give this union money out of my weekly paycheck, I'd be furious with this. :mad:
 
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DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
Those hourly jobs have no guaranteed hours and no job security. Sure, no jobs are really secure, but if the job is constantly undermined by inexperienced leads that are constantly looking to get ahead and play politics, then working the hospitality industry won't give you the lifestyle you desire. These workers suing are hoping for mere dollar raises. I work a salary job that gets raises significantly higher, but they are consumed by taxes and the cost of living in California. You don't want to get paid under $20 a hour in California.
 

DrAlice

Well-Known Member
What I can't understand is why their "troops" keep buying into all their nonsense. What a monumental waste of their union dues money! If I was forced to give this union money out of my weekly paycheck, I'd be furious with this. :mad:
As someone who is somewhat active in her own local union, I want to address this sentiment a little bit. I know you know this, but I feel the need to make the defense that unions do more than the crazy business you see on TV (or on the interwebs). My union (which shall remain nameless, but if you live in CA, you know it well) does some crazy shizz at the state level. It can fall down some ridiculous rabbit holes following the current "issue du jour". Often at the risk of turning the public against those of us rank and file employees that had nothing to do with the decision at hand. Yes, I scratch my head and get a little angry. However, I have to remind myself that the LOCAL branch has helped our people on SO MANY SMALL ISSUES, that I'm happy to pay my dues, despite knowing that some of my money goes to the big nutjob-y things the state level does with it.

Having said all this, I think the Anaheim lawsuit is nutty and is probably just to add publicity to their cause.

EDIT:
PS BTW, as of a 2018 Supreme Court ruling ("Janus decision"), those of us in the public sector are no longer forced to give union dues. Not sure where that issue currently sits in the private sector.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Those hourly jobs have no guaranteed hours and no job security. Sure, no jobs are really secure, but if the job is constantly undermined by inexperienced leads that are constantly looking to get ahead and play politics, then working the hospitality industry won't give you the lifestyle you desire. These workers suing are hoping for mere dollar raises. I work a salary job that gets raises significantly higher, but they are consumed by taxes and the cost of living in California. You don't want to get paid under $20 a hour in California.

This lawsuit is dealing with tipped employees.

Many of these employees do not even get a paycheck, aka, money to deposit in their bank account. Instead, their pay is sent to the State and Federal Government to cover their takes, not just income taxes, but also employee taxes on their declared tips, plus many take any leftover amounts to non-taxable accounts, such as retirement and health care.

Their paychecks are a secondary income.

They make their "Living" serving people and making tips.

Now, I was part owner of a Saloon, and a Regional Manager of Johnny Rockets (San Diego Region), and have been a server and bartender.

I also know many bartenders and servers that work at the DLR, and we have discussed tips, and I know some of the numbers. I can't disclose them, not even to Disney or S.O.A.R., but trust me, you can make some serious money as a server. Just watch, figure out the high prices, and say the average tip is between 15 to 20%. How many people does the average Tipped CM serve per hour. How much do you tip a Valet or Bell Hop? How many bags or cars does the average CM handle per hour?

Now, while tax law is clear, and you must declare ALL tips, in reality, credit card tips are tracked by Disney (or Starbucks in this lawsuit), and Disney must allocate 8% of the amount sold if you didn't report that much. So many servers in reality under report their taxable income.

Now, for Measure L, tips and service charges do not count as reportable income, only your hourly wage. These same rules also applied to the economic survey taken that was used to market Measure L.

So let's talk about a bartender/server. That might make $120,000 a year, report $100,000 to the IRS, and make $20,000 in wages.

So, you have a 30 year Senior Bartender at the Disneyland Hotel go up in front of the City Council in public comments, and to the press and claim how Disney is only paying them that $20,000....

The Tipped employees have asked the Union for specific things. First off is protecting Seniority and their shifts/hours, such as Friday nights. Second is benefits such as health care, pensions and vacation/sick pay. The Cm's didn't care about the hourly wage. And the union has always listened to that, when they negotiate, they have two major categories, tipped and non-tipped. For tipped employees, it was State minimum wage and better benefits, with mybe a token increase for years employed.

It is not unusual to hear about these CM's taking nice vacations (many take advantage of Disney travel packages offered at a steep discount including free admission), drive nice cars, pay mortgages, etc. These folks are making a very nice "Living Wage" based on their lifestyle.

If you want to look at CM's that deserve a raise, how about the night janator, or similar non-tipped CM, yes, let's look at helping their income out.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

>>
Yesterday, the Coalition of Resort Labor Unions held a press conference to announce their class action lawsuit against the Disneyland Resort and SodexoMagic (a Disneyland Resort tenant), alleging the company is not complying with Anaheim’s “living wage” ordinance.


It received plenty of media coverage – none of which relates much information about the CRLU member unions and their “allies” who helped organized and run the event: UNITE-HERE Local 11, Workers United Local 50, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 324, IATSE Local 706, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) and CLUE: Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.



Activists from union-funded CLUE deployed at funders’ Measure L press conference.

Take CLUE and OCCORD, for example. They’re generally described in media coverage of Anaheim politics as advocacy or community organizing groups, but their nature and close political-financial ties to Anaheim Resort unions are never examined.


CLUE is basically – a left-wing clergy auxiliary that serves to apply a moral patina to union bargaining strategies. CLUE dispatches contingent activists to union “actions,” issues statements signed by progressive clergy in support of union demands, etc.


CLUE is also funded by those same unions. During the past two years alone, CLUE has received nearly $200,000 from CRLU member unions.



UNITE-HERE Local 11 organizer and interim OCCORD executive director Maggie Valenzuela Zuzuarregui

OCCORD was created by UNITE-HERE Local 11 in the early 2000s, and is housed in the office building Local 11 owns in Garden Grove. A hostile work environment allegedly stemming from ousted Executive Director Shakeel Syed spurred a mass exodus of staff in September and October. UNITE-HERE Local 11 has loaned lead organizer Maggie Valenzuela Zuzuarregui to fill in as interim executive director.


During 2017 and 2018 – the most recent data available – OCCORD received $215,000 from UNITE-HERE and the UFCW.


In other words, the unreported reality is they’re front groups funded by Anaheim Resort unions and deployed to create the appearance of broader community support for union demands.<<
 

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