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

[eliza61nyc]

But I’m saying you SHOULD have complaints. Not about the level of service you’ve received, but about the way those CMs who provided it are treated like disposable equipment—interchangeable with the people who clean rooms at the Motel 6 on I-Drive–rather than as a vital part of your Disney experience.

Absolutely not disposable but definitely interchangeable. how is the job different? I expect housekeeping at motel 6 to be friendly, efficient and thorough, exactly what I expect at the Wilderness lodge. Both serve the same part of my experience whether at Disney or motel 6. They both ensure that room is clean and well stocked.
How is the job NOT interchangeable?? If the housekeeping staff at the Contemporary quit, could they not be replaced with housekeeping from the holiday in?
That's exactly why the salaries are similar industry wide.
Now again I get trash and towel service once a week so my house keeper has it pretty easy buy outside of leaving some towel animals, what is different.

Now I am NOT saying these people are not wonderful hardworking folks, I'm sure they are.

So my service at both places is excellent, no complaints but I'm going to complain because one play is entitled to more for no other reason but the location??

I would not call them disposable but I would definitely sat interchangeable

 

[MrPromey]

Absolutely not disposable but definitely interchangeable. how is the job different? I expect housekeeping at motel 6 to be friendly, efficient and thorough, exactly what I expect at the Wilderness lodge. Both serve the same part of my experience whether at Disney or motel 6. They both ensure that room is clean and well stocked.
How is the job NOT interchangeable?? If the housekeeping staff at the Contemporary quit, could they not be replaced with housekeeping from the holiday in?
That's exactly why the salaries are similar industry wide.
Now again I get trash and towel service once a week so my house keeper has it pretty easy buy outside of leaving some towel animals, what is different.

Now I am NOT saying these people are not wonderful hardworking folks, I'm sure they are.

So my service at both places is excellent, no complaints but I'm going to complain because one play is entitled to more for no other reason but the location??

I would not call them disposable but I would definitely sat interchangeable

I've noticed you've stated you were bowing out of this thread a few different times so I don't know if you'll see this but in another thread a while back, you once talked about how much you over-payed for a Coke entirely based on location (in front of town hall in Philly, I think) and your point at the time, seemed to be one of supply and demand.

And you really wanted that Coke so you payed something like 4-5x what it would have cost at a normal retail location such as a Wallgreens and were perfectly happy to do it.

Disney needs around 65-70 thousand of these entry-level people in one very specific location with very inflexible demands for most of them when it comes to schedules, or to say, they expect their cast to be very flexible while they are not in return.

Does the same supply and demand issue not come into effect if that location is more out of the way for most than many others*, for an employer who is less flexible than most, who expects higher job performance than many others in the area, and for one in desperate need of more employees for this level of work than they're able to get at the current rate?

You admitted a while back in this thread, you thought Disney mostly employed retired people and young adults who didn't need to be able to fully live off their income. At this point, you've already been informed there aren't enough of those in Central Florida available to run the place so what now?

I get you don't think they deserve more for the work they do but what do you deserve as a guest for what you're paying Disney when Disney won't pay what is required to fill the positions that impact the quality of your trip?

Would you not agree that Disney is charging you a tad more for a stay in their resort than you'd be paying at that theoretical Motel 6, after all?


*Besides property values in reasonable distances causing cast to have to commute farther and farther, just the time and hassle once they get to property, to get to their job positions is a lot more than comparable jobs in the Kissimmee/Orlando area.

 

[eliza61nyc]

I've noticed you've stated you were bowing out of this thread a few different times so I don't know if you'll see this but in another thread a while back, you once talked about how much you over-payed for a Coke entirely based on location (in front of town hall, I think) and your point at the time, seemed to be one of supply and demand.

And you really wanted that Coke so you payed something like 4-5x what it would have cost at a normal retail location such as a Wallgreens and were perfectly happy to do it.

Disney needs around 65-70 thousand of these entry-level people in one very specific location with very inflexible demands for most of them when it comes to schedules, or to say, they expect their cast to be very flexible while they are not in return.

Does the same supply and demand issue not come into effect if that location is more out of the way for most than many others*, for an employer who is less flexible than most, who expects higher job performance than many others in the area, and for one in desperate need of more employees for this level of work than they're able to get at the current rate?

You admitted a while back in this thread, you thought Disney mostly employed retired people and young adults who didn't need to be able to fully live off their income. At this point, you've already been informed there aren't enough of those in Central Florida available to run the place so what now?

I get you don't think they deserve more for the work they do but what do you deserve as a guest for what you're paying Disney when Disney won't pay what is required to fill the positions that impact the quality of your trip?

Would you not agree that Disney is charging you a tad more for a stay in their resort than you'd be paying at that theoretical Motel 6, after all?


*Besides property values in reasonable distances causing cast to have to commute farther and farther, just the time and hassle once they get to property, to get to their job positions is a lot more than comparable jobs in the Kissimmee/Orlando area.

lol I keep having appointments where I'm waiting but yes, I did say there was nothing more for me to add.

Yes I do think the same supply and demand issues come into effect, the difference is that IMO disney is definitely surviving and thriving regardless to the need for these vacancies. Again, I've never had a bad experience, I haven't had to use genie plus but people definitely hate it so I guess that's a negative.

I think I've been pretty consistent in saying that when I think I'm not getting what I paid for I simply stop going. so far that has not happened.
And yes finding out that the majority of cm's are not college students or retirees has made me pause.

 

[mkt]

*Besides property values in reasonable distances causing cast to have to commute farther and farther, just the time and hassle once they get to property, to get to their job positions is a lot more than comparable jobs in the Kissimmee/Orlando area.

One of the concessions I expect from Disney in light of the insane commutes needed now for affordable housing to LBV include some leniency on their notoriously rigid attendance guidelines. Not saying show up late to work every day, but a policy like Universal, where a month of perfect attendance excuses a previous tardy or call-in, and can even allow you to build some "credit" so to speak for future tardiness.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The CM should quit. I worked for Disney and wanted to get paid more for my skills so I left and got a better paying job.

You wanted to get paid more for the same skills? What company did you move to that paid more for the same skills?

 

[eliza61nyc]

I will say one of the problems is tourism and travel is one of the city's biggest economic drivers and its an industry that will always have bottom of the barrel wages

 

[mkt]

I worked for Disney and wanted to get paid more for my skills so I left and got a better paying job.

Not everyone has those skills or the financial freedom to train for more well-paid skills.

 

[_caleb]

The CM should quit. I worked for Disney and wanted to get paid more for my skills so I left and got a better paying job. Not a difficult concept.

If they are not willing and ready to quit, they have no leverage and they will accept whatever Disney gives them.

It always comes back to taking personal responsibility for their situation.

The good news is this will get resolved, Disney will give them a token inflation bump, as free adults they will accept the new hourly wage, and then they will immediately be back to complaining about the wage they just agreed to meanwhile doing absolutely nothing to actually improve their situation.

Rinse and repeat.

Oh and living wage or something.

This isn’t a good solution for anyone in the equation.

Not the worker, who has to go through the stress of job interviews, a transition into a new job, training, learning to work with new people, adjusting to new hours, etc. all while not making enough money to pay rent until he prove his value and climb the ladder. This is all terribly disruptive and a waste of any Disney-specific skills and experience they’ve acquired. A raise would be better.

Not for Disney, who have to put time and money into finding, recruiting, onboarding, and training the new CM, who will be a drag on team productivity until gaining some experience. If CM pay was increased, all of this could have been avoided.

And ultimately, it’s a bad solution for you, the guest. The cost for all this turnover is all pushed to the you, the consumer, who receives lesser customer service while trainees are learning. Rather than happy, experienced, knowledgeable, well-paid CMs who are personally and passionately invested in the parks, your magical Disney dinner is served by a kid who might just as well be working at Taco Bell.

An increase in CM pay would be better for everyone.

 

[Bullseye1967]

You wanted to get paid more for the same skills? What company did you move to that paid more for the same skills?

There are always companies that will pay more for the same skill set because they want better quality employees. In middle Tennessee Burger King starts at $11.35 and Chic-Fil-A pays $14. I owned a hotel in Kissimmee for years and I always paid at least 50 cents an hour better than my competitors because I wanted the best unskilled help I could find.

 

[Bullseye1967]

This isn’t a good solution for anyone in the equation.

Not the worker, who has to go through the stress of job interviews, a transition into a new job, training, learning to work with new people, adjusting to new hours, etc. all while not making enough money to pay rent until he prove his value and climb the ladder.

This is what an adult does to make their life better. Adults go through stress, transitions, learning and adjusting all the time. Think about buying a house? Having a child? This is nonsense! Why are you coddling adults? The difference between an adult and a child is adults can hopefully deal with adult things.

This is all terribly disruptive and a waste of any Disney-specific skills and experience they’ve acquired. A raise would be better.

What Disney specific skills? To point with two fingers?

Not for Disney, who have to put time and money into finding, recruiting, onboarding, and training the new CM, who will be a drag on team productivity until gaining some experience. If CM pay was increased, all of this could have been avoided.

Disney does not have a problem losing employees. Their retention rate is far above most fortune 50 companies. Their current issue is they laid off a lot of people and many found other jobs before they were recalled.

And ultimately, it’s a bad solution for you, the guest. The cost for all this turnover is all pushed to the you, the consumer, who receives lesser customer service while trainees are learning. Rather than happy, experienced, knowledgeable, well-paid CMs who are personally and passionately invested in the parks, your magical Disney dinner is served by a kid who might just as well be working at Taco Bell.

An increase in CM pay would be better for everyone.

The kid working at Taco Bell is bad? Doesn't he/she also deserve a living wage or whatever it is? The guest has no control over this. Disney was doing great until inflation got bad and the economy is about to dump. They were giving bad customer service to guests for the last three years and still the parks are packed.

 

[_caleb]

This is what an adult does to make their life better. Adults go through stress, transitions, learning and adjusting all the time. Think about buying a house? Having a child? This is nonsense! Why are you coddling adults? The difference between an adult and a child is adults can hopefully deal with adult things.

Who is coddling adults? I’m saying that there is a personal cost to these changes. If you truly understood hardship, I would not think you’d want someone else to experience it unnecessarily. Yes, grownups have to deal with stress. But intelligent people look for ways to avoid it where possible.

What Disney specific skills? To point with two fingers?

Sure, that’s one. But I’m talking about knowing how to make a “magical” experience for guests from all around the world with all kinds of needs and all degrees of understanding about how things work at the parks. Knowing the parks systems, policies, and procedures well enough to navigate and implement them without needing to to think about them. Knowing how to avoid cascading stops on Space Mountain, being able to spot legitimate security threats, knowing the backstory of Big Thunder Mountain. These are all Disney-specific skills.

Disney does not have a problem losing employees. Their retention rate is far above most fortune 50 companies. Their current issue is they laid off a lot of people and many found other jobs before they were recalled.

That’s part of the problem, sure. But why aren’t all those laid-off CMs coming back now that Disney is hiring again? Why are the parks understaffed? Why are recruiters reporting that they’re having difficulty filling positions? Why are unions threatening to strike?

The kid working at Taco Bell is bad? Doesn't he/she also deserve a living wage or whatever it is? The guest has no control over this. Disney was doing great until inflation got bad and the economy is about to dump. They were giving bad customer service to guests for the last three years and still the parks are packed.

The kid working at Taco Bell isn’t bad. But wouldn’t you prefer a CM who would rather work at Disney than Taco Bell? Consumers have all the control because we can choose how and where to spend our money. If you think customer service is bad, why do you keep giving them your money? If the public demanded better quality of service (more CMs, better CM pay, exceptional service), Disney would find a way to provide it.

 

[RobWDW1971]

If the public demanded better quality of service (more CMs, better CM pay, exceptional service), Disney would find a way to provide it.

Exactly! But the guests don’t demand quality and exceptional service so Disney has no motivation to provide it.

So their workforce is now interchangeable to Taco Bell’s and wages will face long-term downward pressure as the standards continue to be lowered and the hiring pool continues to be expanded.

Tattoos, long hair, beards, disheveled, and morbidly obese? Don’t need to pay high wages to find that in the marketplace.

Four Seasons prices for Best Western service.

But, but, there’s a new popcorn bucket!!! It’s AMAZING!!!

 

[eliza61nyc]

Exactly! But the guests don’t demand quality and exceptional service so Disney has no motivation to provide it.

So their workforce is now interchangeable to Taco Bell’s and wages will face long-term downward pressure as the standards continue to be lowered and the hiring pool continues to be expanded.

Tattoos, long hair, beards, disheveled, and morbidly obese? Don’t need to pay high wages to find that in the marketplace.

Four Seasons prices for Best Western service.

But, but, there’s a new popcorn bucket!!! It’s AMAZING!!!

There is no "now". You guys act like these were at one time high paying gigs.
Where?? When??
Gimme a break. Guest have a right to decide what they like and want and yes that includes popcorn buckets. But please the so called "deterioration" of quality is not the reason wages in hospitality are crappy.

And at the Philadelphia four Seasons, the front desk customer service agent makes a little over 18 bucks an hour

It ain't the location folks these are low paying jobs period, they were low wage jobs 60 years ago, they will be so 60 years from now

 

[eliza61nyc]

Who is coddling adults? I’m saying that there is a personal cost to these changes. If you truly understood hardship, I would not think you’d want someone else to experience it unnecessarily. Yes, grownups have to deal with stress. But intelligent people look for ways to avoid it where possible.

Sure, that’s one. But I’m talking about knowing how to make a “magical” experience for guests from all around the world with all kinds of needs and all degrees of understanding about how things work at the parks. Knowing the parks systems, policies, and procedures well enough to navigate and implement them without needing to to think about them. Knowing how to avoid cascading stops on Space Mountain, being able to spot legitimate security threats, knowing the backstory of Big Thunder Mountain. These are all Disney-specific skills.

That’s part of the problem, sure. But why aren’t all those laid-off CMs coming back now that Disney is hiring again? Why are the parks understaffed? Why are recruiters reporting that they’re having difficulty filling positions? Why are unions threatening to strike?

@Caleb, I enjoy your post and even when I don't agree they usual make me go :umm, that's a good point.

I gotta say I totally disagree with the first paragraph though. Imo we have produced generation of special entitled snowflakes precisely because we've tried to make every single thing in their lives easy. Every kid gets a prize so now I can't deal with failure, no need to work hard because we'll rearrange the problem so it's easy, don't like your financial situation blame your employer and make zero attempt to change because "the ceo got a lot of money, I should too"

Of course there is a personal cost, there is also a personal cost to staying and usually it's a life of barely scrapping by. Why would we encourage that?


I absolutely know hardship and my kids do too (watching your father die from cancer is no picnic), I know what it's like to live above a sleazy strip joint because a store clerk in NYC in no way pays enough, I know what it's like to try a raise 3 kids while your husband is on an oil rig but you both recognize thst it's a sacrifice that will reap rewards if seen through, but the great thing about hardship is when you overcome it, no obstacle can get in your way AND you do not depend on others for your happiness or life
Instead we've taught a generation to whine, blame the "system" and have mental meltdowns when faced with the slightest issues.

No I did not teach my kids to avoid hardships I teach my kids and grandkids to DEAL AND OVERCOME hardships

And we were truthful, my youngest loves concerts and live music... we let him no pumping gas is not ever going to allow you to go to music festivals, my other kid got a first job at McDonalds yes we let him know, that is not a career. It is an entry level, part time gig. You stay there you'll be living in the projects

And here's the sad reality, all those who say they can't live on Disney wages, I'm willing to bet in 3 years the vast majority t will have done nothing to be in a better situation and we'll be right back here saying Disney "owes," them more money.

As a previous poster mentioned "rinse and repeat "

 

[_caleb]

@Caleb, I enjoy your post and even when I don't agree they usual make me go :umm, that's a good point.

I gotta say I totally disagree with the first paragraph though. Imo we have produced generation of special entitled snowflakes precisely because we've tried to make every single thing in their lives easy. Every kid gets a prize so now I can't deal with failure, no need to work hard because we'll rearrange the problem so it's easy, don't like your financial situation blame your employer and make zero attempt to change because "the ceo got a lot of money, I should too"

Of course there is a personal cost, there is also a personal cost to staying and usually it's a life of barely scrapping by. Why would we encourage that?


I absolutely know hardship and my kids do too (watching your father die from cancer is no picnic), I know what it's like to live above a sleazy strip joint because a store clerk in NYC in no way pays enough, I know what it's like to try a raise 3 kids while your husband is on an oil rig but you both recognize thst it's a sacrifice that will reap rewards if seen through, but the great thing about hardship is when you overcome it, no obstacle can get in your way AND you do not depend on others for your happiness or life
Instead we've taught a generation to whine, blame the "system" and have mental meltdowns when faced with the slightest issues.

No I did not teach my kids to avoid hardships I teach my kids and grandkids to DEAL AND OVERCOME hardships

And we were truthful, my youngest loves concerts and live music... we let him no pumping gas is not ever going to allow you to go to music festivals, my other kid got a first job at McDonalds yes we let him know, that is not a career. It is an entry level, part time gig. You stay there you'll be living in the projects

And here's the sad reality, all those who say they can't live on Disney wages, I'm willing to bet in 3 years the vast majority t will have done nothing to be in a better situation and we'll be right back here saying Disney "owes," them more money.

As a previous poster mentioned "rinse and repeat "

Thanks for engaging! I enjoy the discussion.

We hear this perspective often around here: “People these days don’t want to work hard!” or “People these days aren’t resilient.” I’m sure it might feel like it, but for the post part, this simply isn’t true. In reality, the world has changed.

The cost of living has gone up dramatically, and wages have not kept up. A dollar his harder to earn and doesn’t go as far and what it can buy is of lower quality. Things that are good for us are far more expensive than things that are not. On average, our health is poorer, but health care is more expensive (and less accessible) than ever. It’s easier than ever to be taken advantage of or made a victim of a crime. It’s turning out that a great many of those held up to be examples of hard work, moral courage, or business leadership are being revealed as frauds, liars, and thieves. Older folks have insisted on holding onto positions of power (Bob Iger), leaving the next generation without a seat at the decision-making table. The current generation is having to live with the consequences of the actions of the previous generation.

So we have a generation that has learned to navigate these realities. (By the way, @RobWDW1971, Millennials are more likely than any previous generation to change jobs.)

On the other hand, I think some of what seems like “this generation isn’t willing to work hard like we did!” may come from the fact that younger generations are smart. They’re looking at the way things were done in the past and wanting a better way. Why would a generation want to work themselves into the debt, poor health, broken families and communities, anger, fear, environmental damage that the previous generation did? Why work in a broken system that only seems to make the rich richer?

The kind of people—from multiple generations—who actually want to be Cast Members after actually doing the job, are telling Disney that they need a pay increase, health care, and other benefits in order to do the job well and also be happy, heathy, and whole. This isn’t entitlement, it’s a feedback loop. Disney can decide to keep wages low, and these CMs will leave for greener pastures. But as a fan and formerly-frequent guest, I think raising CM pay would be good for the Company, the CMs, and for guests.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

don't like your financial situation blame your employer and make zero attempt to change because "the ceo got a lot of money, I should too"

A company who can pay CEO’s $40 million a year should be able to pay frontline workers 40k a year.

If frontline pay in America had kept up with executive pay in America everyone would be in a much better place.

 

[el_super]

A company who can pay CEO’s $40 million a year should be able to pay frontline workers 40k a year.

There are frontline cast members that make that, if not more, due to their union seniority. Getting a 3% raise for 30+ years really adds up.

So you seem to think it's unfair that the CEO get more than the frontline workers, is it fair that some of them get paid significantly more to do the same exact job, just based on the number of years they have been employed?

 

[eliza61nyc]

A company who can pay CEO’s $40 million a year should be able to pay frontline workers 40k a year.

If frontline pay in America had kept up with executive pay in America everyone would be in a much better place.

oh absolutely, lol you'll get no argument from me on that one Trains but we've pretty much been chewing on that bone since Jesus was a boy. I'm 63 and heck I remember the same arguments being leveled at IBM. I also remember "A country that sends XYZ dollars to _____ country" should be able to feed and house it's own people. I've never been one though to subscribe to the philosophy of "because Joe gets paid 10 bucks, Mike should be able to get the same " for different jobs.
Now I will say, ceo compensation is usually agreed to by some one. I just got in the mail my handy dandy ballot for voting at disney's annual meeting. lol on the back they list the election of directors and of course the "board" recommends we vote "for" all of them.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

So you seem to think it's unfair that the CEO get more than the frontline workers

When did I say that? If the ceo literally gets paid over 1,000 times more than the frontline CM’s - I think that might be an issue yes.

is it fair that some of them get paid significantly more to do the same exact job, just based on the number of years they have been employed?

Absolutely. That’s how the concept of raises work, employees are rewarded if they do a good job and stay loyal to a company. Each year on the job you learn to do a better job in your role and that makes you more efficient.

 

[el_super]

Absolutely. That’s how the concept of raises work, employees are rewarded if they do a good job and stay loyal to a company. Each year on the job you learn to do a better job in your role and that makes you more efficient.

So nice to see you admit that starting wages should be lower.