Cast member strike vote, June 6, 2007

[gabroccoli]

I would typically just read these posts and then just forget about it, but I have a little bit of an issue with some of the comments being made by some of the CM's. First of all CP's are the lowest paid employees at Disney World. I don't think that the contract being offered to you is fair because it is basically asking you to take a cut in pay because of the increase of healthcare costs that the company is asking you to pay. However, all of us who work in corporate america know that your healthcare costs do not and should not increase as your annual salary increases. So yes all other companies in america charge a VP the same charge for family healthcare coverage as a paperpushing employee. The real reason that I am making this post is that I read a comment that stated that you can make more money "starting" at McDonald's then starting at Disney World. That may be true, but my comment to that would be when you top out at the pay scale you make decent money, from what I remember the top pay for a merchandise cast member when I was there in 2002 was around $14 or $15 per hour. For the work that they are asking you to do and the additional perks you get (free admission for yourself whenever, your family and friends are able to come to the parks for free quite a bit, and various other discounts) that is very good pay. So like I said you do deserve to get a raise and the raise should not be taken up by the increased healthcare costs, but some of the comments being made are pushing being impractical.

Thank you! I couldn't have said it better myself..

 

[OneLuckyMom]

So yes all other companies in america charge a VP the same charge for family healthcare coverage as a paperpushing employee.

Ummm...no. See my previous post. Not "all" companies in America charge a VP the same as a paperpusher. (And yes, I work in "corporate" America)

And at my last company, the company still covered 100% of your premium. I admit those types of companies are few and far between these days, but don't simplify the issue by saying all companies do things the same. They don't.

 

[mary219]

Wow, this thread has derailed.

I'm interested in the details of the Disney contract situation and all, but the personal warfare pro and con union is spinning quickly out of control. I guess this isn't really political debate or anything but still.. :shrug:

Best of luck, look forward to hearing the results, can't we go back to debating when the wand will come down now?? :wave:

you are right,i guess i am oversensitive because of ongoing contract negotiations for myself.I hope disney employess get a decent contract and dont have to strike,being on strike is no fun ,but i fully support disney workers if that is what they need to do.good luck to you all.I hope it works out for the best interests of the disney workers.

 

[mousermerf]

I really hope they vote against this contract. Reproposing the same contract after it was shot down is just crap.

I'd be very happy to see Disney lose on this one because it'd mean better in the long run.

 

[majortom1981]

I really hope they vote against this contract. Reproposing the same contract after it was shot down is just crap.

I'd be very happy to see Disney lose on this one because it'd mean better in the long run.

Actually this could happen even with a good contract. If very few people actually come out and vote and it gets turned down they would try to get more union people to vote on it.

 

[mkt]

I hate unions.

As someone who's been burned by WDW's Teamsters, I despise Local 385. But I don't disagree with the employees rights, and if the strike, I won't cross the picket line.

 

[mousermerf]

Well, the people who cared voted and Disney lost.

That's all that matters. A revote is simply trying to stack the vote in their favor. Those who did not, chose not to. Choosing not to vote is a right we have in our country.

And now Disney will bully everyone to vote on their side - i've seen them do it.

 

[mkt]

Question for when I retire and come to work for Disney....

Do I have to join the union?

No you don't

 

[TomDisney]

If this is the case, then why wouldn't Disney just raise the wages paid to employees/recruits? Well, if someone making the decisions at Disney has looked at an econ book in the last 100 years, its because they can afford to pay less because their jobs are in high demand. Thus, if people leave because they are unhappy because of wages, they will be able to hire in new people rather quickly at the same wage. That would be my only logical explanation to it. They aren't being greedy, they aren't paying middle management for nothing, they are just doing good business.

And if they really treated their employees poorly, don't you think a company like Disney would be catching lots of heat from labor groups (like Nike and Wal-Mart do) about this?

Again, this is purely from a theoretical stand point as they teach you nothing but theory in school and forget about the 'real world' stuff.

In theory, everything you said is true. The real world operates alot differently. Disney has had the luxury of having the "pick of the crop" for many years. One, because they were the only real game in town and two, because they were Disney and everyone wanted to work for Disney.

Going back a number of years, the cost of living in Florida was cheap compare to the rest of the country. Over the past several years, with the increase in the cost of housing (which has affected most every part of the country, and not just Florida), increase in homeowners insurance premiums, and property taxes, it's not as cheap to live here as it once was. The companies down here (and I'm not just talking Disney) have been reluctant to increase wages to keep up with these costs.

Add to that, the growth of places like SeaWorld, and Universal, and all of the other growth that has come about in the Orlando area in terms of jobs and it becomes harder and harder to find people to fill vacancies, especially when the pool of available people is the same or smaller.

Eventually, wages will have to go up, but right now, no one wants to be the first to open the flood gates and start paying more than anyone else.

 

[gabroccoli]

Good luck on your contract. A lot of you union bashers are forgetting unions built this country, and everything that we have. And are still a necessary thing in certain work forces. let us all not forget about one thing.



















THE MOUSE

 

[mkt]

Unions are nothing more than legalized extortion (You give us this, or otherwise we do this)

Maybe in a right to work state, but in California, New York, or another other state that isn't right-to-work, it's just another part of life.

Furthermore, its been my experience that unions force Disney to rehire folks who REALLY deserved to be let go

:wave: I'm still not back

Don't be so quick to think that Disney could replace the striking workers so easily, unemployment in the Orlando area is less than 3%, every one who wants a job has a job, and Disney has been having problems with regular hiring, much less any emergency hiring the strike would require... there would be a lot of cast members on a lot of forced overtime (and still some services would be inoperative) if a strike occurred.

I think a lot of former CM's would be getting phone calls, and a lot of rehire statuses would be overlooked.

But, in response to the union trying to get a living wage? Pushing a button at its a small world is NOT a career. You cannot raise a family on something as unskilled as MOST front line jobs at Disney, nor are you supposed to. Want to earn a good wage and support families? Then move up, work hard, get an education, apply for other areas... Disney almost exclusively hires from the bottom up, if you don't like what your paid, take some personal responsibility and do something about it

Honestly, I don't think it's possible to be such a large single-site employer and be non-union. Especially when the parent company itself is a union workplace. In 1971 when WDW opened, TWDC was already heavily unionized. It wasn't that hard to have the Union mentality spread east when most of your managers came from out west.

 

[raven]

What are the pros and cons for joining the union at Disney? What would you advise a new CM to do?

 

[mkt]

One problem with that. Disney has been outsourcing more and more so you really cant work your way up that much anymore.

Aside from its onsite claims department, I'm not sure of any position that's been outsourced that one could move UP into. Maybe valet manager?

 

[mkt]

What are the pros and cons for joining the union at Disney? What would you advise a new CM to do?

Don't join unless you're a major union die-hard. In a right-to-work state it's an exercise in futility, since the same privileges are extended to a non-Union CM (eg, getting written up? You're still getting a shop steward in there)

 

[mousermerf]

You're not getting the shop steward unless you ask for it and at that point you have to join the union to have them defend you.

<--used to get written up all the time

 

[mkt]

Well, with my experience with middle and upper management, I say go on strike, I'll find someone to replace you in a heartbeat. It was funny when I would have people complain about how little they made, I would always tell them I could hire somebody better for less if they want and fire them. Then I would hire someone new, and move a better worker to the same job as the person complaining.

Funny, they would always stop their yapping. Ah, I used to love working retail.....

But, a strike, in my opinion, will harm the strikers more than Disney. You will come back with your tails between your legs defeated, you will be easily replaced by the kids getting off for summer break, I would plan this better, it looks redundant.

Replacing a few hundred isn't too hard.

Replacing tens of thousands is a lot harder

 

[mkt]

And Aramark has been in charge of Cast Member Cafeteria's for longer than 7 years... That can't be what everyone is complaining about now, can it? Really...?

more than 10 years actually

 

[mousermerf]

They've also cut back so much on staffing that losing even 3-4 CM's from an area would cause the closure of several attractions.

Areas that had 8 people in rotation now only have 4, so losing anymore on any day is risking a shut down.

 

[mkt]

Just want to say that I fully support CM's right to organize and bargain for a fair contract...including their right to strike.

As do I. And I won't cross the lines if they do picket.

 

[mkt]

You're not getting the shop steward unless you ask for it and at that point you have to join the union to have them defend you.

<--used to get written up all the time

I got a shop steward for my 3 write ups in my 5 years... no way around it in Teamsters I suppose. And I was a non-union CR for 2 of them.