News Disney World Cast Member unions to begin week of negotiations for wage increases, healthcare costs and more

TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
eliza61nyc said:
Most lifeguards tend to be college students, lol that should be the first clue. College students, as in " I know this job is temporary, first job".
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Maybe I’m showing my age and this is now the norm but I remember the lifeguards being in high school.

See that’s where I have trouble with “entry level” and “first job” - my first job was when I was 15. If I had chosen to move on to Disney when I was 18 or 19 I would have already had 3-4 years of experience in a customer service type job where I had been cross-trained to work in ticket sales, retail, food service, and as a tour guide.

That’s not entry level / no experience.

Disney isn’t hiring kids in high school.
 
RobWDW1971

RobWDW1971

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
Maybe I’m showing my age and this is now the norm but I remember the lifeguards being in high school.

See that’s where I have trouble with “entry level” and “first job” - my first job was when I was 15. If I had chosen to move on to Disney when I was 18 or 19 I would have already had 3-4 years of experience in a customer service type job where I had been cross-trained to work in ticket sales, retail, food service, and as a tour guide.

That’s not entry level / no experience.
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Two different terms.

Entry level describes the training/skills/education required to do the particular job thereby establishing its value in the marketplace.

One can have 32 prior jobs and still be an "entry level" worker if your job is an ODV vendor on Main Street. And, unfortunately for that worker, that previous experience will do little to make employers value their skills more than the 18 year old kid in his first job who just walked in the door last week handing out the popcorn on the cart next to them.

Add in the union factor where the world's best popcorn vendor makes the same as the world's worst with the same seniority and you get back to every company paying the going market rate for the skills/experience needed to the job, which is virtually none for entry level jobs.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Lilofan said:
Anyone regardless of resident and or immigration status can get treatment in the ER in USA hospitals, and with EMTALA will be treated regardless if unable to pay. When I had emergency appendectomy surgery , I saw this verbage posted in the ER.
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Sure - but they are still going to bill you full rate. The point is the hospital can’t turn aware emergency needs due to inability to pay.

Contrast this with other systems with actual coverage… where they send you on your way with a nominal bill.

I think i paid about $15 for an oslo ER visit while there. Meds to go home with included.
 
Disstevefan1

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
Tony the Tigger said:
That’s no accident. It’s a lot less hassle to pay $17 than to allow an opening for a union to organize. They’re always looking for a way in (not that I have any problem with unions in theory.)

Nobody said they all have to pay the same. If people want to leave over a dollar, let them.

Then give those who stayed a raise. 👊🏻
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Let’s see how long it takes WDW cast members (or should I say the union) to get that dollar raise.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
eliza61nyc said:
Not much difference. I am in a big city but my local ymca your shift starts at 6am (lol us old head get up at the Crack of dawn) and my gym with pool is 24/7 so the teens work crazy hours.
But the point is lifeguards is NOT a career thats ever going to pay a great salary. Just because one does it at a theme park doesn't change the job.
Most lifeguards tend to be college students, lol that should be the first clue. College students, as in " I know this job is temporary, first job". Not, let me make this a 10 year career.
Now in the summer the Jersey shore will pay on the higher end ~17 bucks and that is definitely worse than at a resort pool, toward the end of the season they get international students because the local kids have gone back to college.
again, because they have figured out this is not a job to raise a family on, buy a house etc etc and I can't imagine them even remotely saying "listen I work 8 hours a day you're going have to pay me at least 25/hr"
So yeah you become a Disney lifeguard please don't be surprised at the limited lifestyle and "I cant live on this salary" is not justification to pay above and beyond what the industry usually pays.
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Again, Disney’s demands for availability and commuting limit the ability of college students to fill this role year round.

If the local gym is paying the same amount, why would any intelligent college student drive further (the nearest major university is a good 45 minutes away), deal with less flexibility, deal with more people and the hassles they bring for the same base pay? Would you take a job that required more spending on your commute and more hassle for the same pay as one without those?
 
eliza61nyc

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Again, Disney’s demands for availability and commuting limit the ability of college students to fill this role year round.

If the local gym is paying the same amount, why would any intelligent college student drive further, deal with less flexibility, deal with more people and the hassles they bring for the same base pay?
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Oh absolutely and it's a balancing act for the company, offering enough to attract talent but there's a world of difference between being competitive and being forced to pay every employee some magical "living" wage.
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
eliza61nyc said:
there's a world of difference between being competitive and being forced to pay every employee some magical "living" wage.
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A “living wage” isn’t magical or mythical.

The argument seems to be that anyone working a frontline position at wdw (popcorn vendor and host who wakes up Jose are the popular examples but in real life we are talking about a large number of positions including ride operators, ticket takers, security, character attendants, attractions, tour guides, theater ushers, food service, etc.) should be entry level and basically consider the job an internship that gets them started in the real world and only stay for 1-2 years before “moving up” in life.

That would typically be someone 18-20 years old and the theory is that said person doesn’t deserve more than $16 an hour if that because they can live with friends or family and they have no further responsibilities.

Of course in real life, WDW employees people for front line positions of all ages and walks of life, but because they are working a “non-skilled” and “entry level” job, they shouldn’t be paid enough to put food on the table and it’s their own fault for not moving up in life.

Is that accurate?
 
RobWDW1971

RobWDW1971

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
A “living wage” isn’t magical or mythical.

The argument seems to be that anyone working a frontline position at wdw (popcorn vendor and host who wakes up Jose are the popular examples but in real life we are talking about a large number of positions including ride operators, ticket takers, security, character attendants, attractions, tour guides, theater ushers, food service, etc.) should be entry level and basically consider the job an internship that gets them started in the real world and only stay for 1-2 years before “moving up” in life.

That would typically be someone 18-20 years old and the theory is that said person doesn’t deserve more than $16 an hour if that because they can live with friends or family and they have no further responsibilities.

Of course in real life, WDW employees people for front line positions of all ages and walks of life, but because they are working a “non-skilled” and “entry level” job, they shouldn’t be paid enough to put food on the table and it’s their own fault for not moving up in life.

Is that accurate?
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Now you’re getting it.

Workers will always be paid as the market values their services.

So if you are an adult who expects to “put food on the table” for your wife and kids doing a job that a teenager with no skills can do, you not only work in Fantasyland, you apparently live there too.

It’s not a pleasant truth, it is just reality.
 
eliza61nyc

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
A “living wage” isn’t magical or mythical.

The argument seems to be that anyone working a frontline position at wdw (popcorn vendor and host who wakes up Jose are the popular examples but in real life we are talking about a large number of positions including ride operators, ticket takers, security, character attendants, attractions, tour guides, theater ushers, food service, etc.) should be entry level and basically consider the job an internship that gets them started in the real world and only stay for 1-2 years before “moving up” in life.

That would typically be someone 18-20 years old and the theory is that said person doesn’t deserve more than $16 an hour if that because they can live with friends or family and they have no further responsibilities.

Of course in real life, WDW employees people for front line positions of all ages and walks of life, but because they are working a “non-skilled” and “entry level” job, they shouldn’t be paid enough to put food on the table and it’s their own fault for not moving up in life.

Is that accurate?
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**sighs*** Yes unfortunately it is. Listen, I would love it if everybody in the country would make enough to live how they wanted. I would love it if inflation last year had not run amok and I'm not paying 6 bucks for a dozen eggs but it's not reality AND it's never been reality.

It's not about "fault". They aren't being punished, they are receiving the pay they agreed upon.

And it's not exclusive to Walt disney world. like I said before you decide to flip burgers at mcdonald's for 15 years you are going to struggle. Now I don't know when or how it came into being but some jobs have been designated "non skilled" jobs, our society does put a market value on positions. when I started out as a lab technician my salary was not based on the cost of living, it was based and compared to what the market says entry level lab techs were paid. It does not mean these people do not work hard but it does mean your pay will be at the bottom.
 
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eliza61nyc

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
$17-20 an hour isn’t a luxurious figure that allows people to “live how they want” - it’s enough that someone can pay the bills.

If you’re college age then it’s enough to help you pay for college.
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and to repeat, it's not about what you can or cannot do with the pay. It's about what the market says the job is worth. When I started out Dupont didn't give a flying fig if I could live on what an entry level lab tech made. this is what comparable companies paid and what the industry said the job was worth. that is what the salary was based on. not whether or not I could survive on that salary

and also to repeat, what happens when it takes 22/hour to pay the bills? as we are seeing all around the country, what happens when housing cost go berserk? trying to make every single job pay enough is an impossibility .
 

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