Disney Union Workers Rally for Better Pay

[PhotoDave219]

I find most of you Poorly informed on Disney's hiring....

I've got a problem with guest service managers starting $28, 000 a year… Give or take.

I've got a problem with Disney's unwillingness to give career advancement and their inability to promote from within into management.

I have a problem with Disney making record profits quarter after quarter and unwilling to invest any of those profits in the people who helped make them.

I have a problem with Disney's CEO compensation and the disparity between that and the wage of the average worker, company wide.

I have a problem with Disney's current budget view of guest service. They used to be the gold standard of how people should be treated but now it's whatever the cheapest they can get.

So you can sit back and say "go get another job" but median income per capita in the Orlando area is $23k. There just aren't any jobs around Orlando that pay a middle class wage.

 

[CDavid]

Ok, I'll re-phrase. Someone that holds a job where the barrier to entry is the ability to not drool all over themselves will not be able to obtain the salary you have suggested. Additionally, given the work force & other things such as supply & demand you're going to see a salary that's in line with what the market dictates.

Well, there are already places where even the minimum wage exceeds $12/hour (mentioned solely as an example, anyway), and it is hardly out of line for many Walt Disney World CM positions.

Don't like the pay?...I hear Universal is hiring. Or you could always drive a cab...

Does Universal pay significantly better than Disney? If they don't, what does that suggestion solve?

 

[lunchbox1175]

At the end of the day the job pays what you're worth. If it's cheaper to fire & rehire & train your replacement than giving you a raise - they'll do it.

Nope, at the end of the day, the job pays what you negotiate, when you apply or accept a job, you have the right to ask for more money up front, they also have the right to not extend the offer for what you are asking, but if it is what you need to get by, then you should certainly try. Also striking is one way of negotiating. I am not in favor of unions, as I feel that they corrupt the system and don't actually take care of there people, I am however in favor of corporate responsibility to its community and employees. That means paying a fair livable wage, not just one that makes you record profits, as your employees live in the community that you provide service too and if they can't afford to live while working at your company, then they will find another job and your profits will deteriorate. It is never cheaper to fire & rehire & train a replacement, training and turnover are two of the biggest expenses for any company. Every employee is an investment and expense, and every time you lose someone, you are losing money. What do you think would cost more to Disney, paying their line cooks an extra two dollars an hour over the course of the year, or losing an entire weeks worth of food sales, wasted product, bad publicity, and guest dissatisfaction because the cooks decided to not come in to work.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It's easy to judge a state when you only see it from the perspective of a tourist.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Surely the fan boys have no problem paying more to help their beloved multinational fund the payment of the quality staff posted so much about.

 

[awilliams4]

Why is it that everyone in this order:

a. Gets a family
b. Gets a low end job
c. Then complains they aren't making enough to support a family

Shouldn't it be

a. Get a low end job
b. Thinks about having a family but realizes they don't make enough
c. Gets a better job in anticipation of supporting a family or concedes they plan to take out the trash for 12 years and not have a family to support.

 

[awilliams4]

I don't understand how it is Disney's fault that someone decides after the fact they can't support a family on a job paying $9 an hour. It is their own fault for not getting into a position to support a family before they decide to start having one.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Looking forward to it. People said the same thing when we got rid of the buggy whip, oh the poor buggy whip industry. Or when the industrial revolution happened. People will survive. The world will always need ditch diggers.

My point is/was that this revolution is much more about information and information handling. Any position that acts as a conduit or is particularly repetitive could be looked at for automation and overall job numbers will suffer not just in directly affected jobs. Those of us that are educated will adapt and do just fine, others that do not will suffer greatly during this transition. As with all transitions of this magnitude there will be a lot of collateral damage including a very high possibility that the current middle class will continue to dwindle in size as well resulting in a much different economic model than we enjoy today.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I don't understand how it is Disney's fault that someone decides after the fact they can't support a family on a job paying $9 an hour. It is their own fault for not getting into a position to support a family before they decide to start having one.

I doubt the college kids and seniors, who make up a disproportionally high % of WDW's cast, are trying to raise families.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I don't understand how it is Disney's fault that someone decides after the fact they can't support a family on a job paying $9 an hour. It is their own fault for not getting into a position to support a family before they decide to start having one.

It is nobody's fault but the individual making their life choices whether they were made when they were 15, 22 or 30... Each of us are a sum of our life choices and we have to live with them, good and bad. As soon as people realize that, the sooner everyone can move on and focus on the future.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

If you dont like paying the staff go to another tourist attraction where they pay their staff less.

 

[TP2000]

I can imagine few insults greater than suggesting a person isn't 'worth' better wages. It is the job they are performing which may not be worth that much to the employer, not the person.

That's a trick of phrasing and semantics, and pretending the person who used the casual phrasing on an informal message board is evil when we all knew what he meant doesn't help.

The job of burger flipper is not worth 60K a year, especially in a relatively inexpensive cost-of-living area like Central Florida. Also, the job of hotel maid is also not worth 60K a year. There, I said it correctly, and I'm not an evil person. And neither is @psukardi

How much do the maids make cleaning the same number of rooms per day at the Orlando World Center Marriott across from Downtown Disney? Whatever that rate is, Disney's maids should make about as much on the other side of I-4.

Although if you work at Disney you also get a posher benefits package that includes 16 sign-ins per year for your friends or family, a minimum of 3 guests per sign-in but up to 7 or 8 if that's how many dependents you have. (And according to their Union, these ladies all have large families to support) At a benefit of 100 dollars per head per sign-in, that's thousands of dollars of admission media to Disney theme parks per year, plus discounts and little freebies Disney doles out to hourly CM's. I have no clue what Marriott's benefits and perks are, but I can guarantee they don't include dozens of free theme park tickets to the best show in town.

I was a dues-paying Teamster as a young man and am happy with union involvement in private industry. But the job of hotel maid is not worth the same amount of money per hour as the job of Longshoreman or stevedore or master electrician or aerospace machinist; unionized trades that require years of schooling and advanced training and/or apprenticeship. Seems to me the going rate for a hotel maid in one of Orlando's many big hotels is pretty much set in stone, with minor variations in benefits or scheduling or perks.

 

[xstech25]

The fact of the matter is no matter how much of a raise they get the standard front line WDW will never make a "living wage" as the media pronounces it. Supply & demand. Food service, ticket taker, ride operator, etc are great jobs when you're young and trying to get experience & make some money, but at some point if you don't make the decision to move on, you have no one to blame but yourself. People can say Walt would be rolling in his grave as much as they want, but who worked all the front line jobs at Disneyland when it first opened? Young people that were making low wages doing it for experience...

Unions will always protest and try to create these big PR campaigns because that's their job, and companies will continue to stick to the market rates because that's what they do. Personally I have no stake in the outcome, but to argue the same talking points over and over at this point is just silly.

 

[roj2323]

Disney offered up the pay raise willingly. The union asked for $10.10 and disney countered with $10 quickly.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...ama-minimum-wage-to-florida-park-workers.html

Key negotiating items:

• Disney wants to eliminate pensions for new employees after 2016 and replace it with a 401K. The union's argument against the conversion from pensions to 401k's is security. The pension fund is federally insured whereas with a 401k your retirement is left in the hands of wall street. There is also some talk of the time it takes to get "vested" in the pension.

• Another sticking point at the moment seems to be how quickly the base rate pay rises to $10 an hour. Disney wants to do it 50 cents at a time and phase it in over 3-4 years. The union seems to want to do this at 75 cents at a time over 2 years (I don't know that this is 100% accurate). As someone put it yesterday Disney could afford to give everyone a $5 raise ( 66000 cast members * 40 hours per week * 52 weeks per year * $5 per hour raise = $686,400,000 yearly added expense not including extraneous costs) and they would still be making billions in profits every year. Personally I don't necessarily agree that this is a valid argument as i'd rather see disney spend that money on innovative new experiences that will increase the profitability of WDW but for clarity that is one of the arguments.

• Disney wants to increase the cast contribution to their healthcare costs. Personally I think Disney is out of their minds. From the numbers I have seen they want to increase the cast contribution to their insurance costs by 25%. This makes little sense when most WDW cast members would qualify for an insurance subsidy (due to there low yearly income) through the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare) if they worked for a small company. In essence Disney's argument doesn't really have legs to stand on when I can get insurance that is better than what they offer for less through the ACA.

Some reading:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...ama-minimum-wage-to-florida-park-workers.html

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com..._1_walt-disney-world-copa-airlines-wage-offer

http://www.uniteherelocal362.org/2014/03/disney-negotiations-start/


The current (expiring) contract
http://www.uniteherelocal362.org/wdw-ft/

 

[seascape]

Disney and pay. Is Disney offer of 10.00 an hour in a year or two a fair starting wage? I think it is but only if there is a fair pay scale. I am not a union lover but I do realize that Disney should offer a wage scale that allows employees, cast members, to live a reasonable life. They should not have to work more than 40 hours a week in a vacation resort and not earn enough to take a vacation.

I am not saying that someone should just get a raise because they are on the job. However most of the cast members I have met are wonderful hard working people who should get a good wage. I will leave what that is to the union membership and their vote. I just hope there is a fair raise and no strike.

 

[Mr. Pricklepants]

When wages are low, even for the people at the bottom, it hurts everyone because there is less money flowing in the economy. Pay the lower class more even a few percentages more and the money flows upwards.

I just hope and pray that no-one gets laid off from their work and they are now stuck back at the bottom of it all and has to take on one of these entry level jobs to try to get by.

 

[TP2000]

• Disney wants to increase the cast contribution to their healthcare costs. Personally I think Disney is out of their minds. From the numbers I have seen they want to increase the cast contribution to their insurance costs by 25%. This makes little sense when most WDW cast members would qualify for an insurance subsidy (due to there low yearly income) through the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare) if they worked for a small company. In essence Disney's argument doesn't really have legs to stand on when I can get insurance that is better than what they offer for less through the ACA.

Disney offers hourly employees insurance through major healthcare providers like Cigna, Kaiser-Permanente, and Blue Cross, with multiple choices and rates based on the employee and the types of lifestyle choices they've made (married, kids, etc.). What is the comparable plan via the ACA that costs the same or less than Disney's insurance benefits?

 

[ChrisFL]

IMO this is a much bigger and more complex topic than we can discuss without expert economists

 

[ScoutN]

IMO this is a much bigger and more complex topic than we can discuss without expert economists

I don't think @MichWolv wants to explain it for a 1000th time here.

He seems to have his stuff down pretty good.

 

[roj2323]

IMO this is a much bigger and more complex topic than we can discuss without expert economists

Not even Economist would agree with each other.