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

[eliza61nyc]

Yes, that’s what is especially troubling about some of these posts. Working hard should not be rewarded. Only be “smart enough” to leave Disney should = a reward.

You’d be completely shocked if you attended a cast appreciation night. They fill the park with CM’s that have been there 25 and more years.

Nor is it an option! Disney is already short staffed - where would they get the replacements?

Based on my personal observations the most unskilled employee at Disney is the ceo! But that’s just me. *sips tea*

Seriously though, society, as a history, deems many things incorrectly. And as people learn and evolve, society changes. That’s a good thing!

lol, that also seems to be a situation that is not unique to Disney . Our last CEO was also a ninny. where they get these guys from I have no idea

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

Keep going round and round guys. It makes me feel like I'm getting my steps in.

 

[kingdead]

so i guess my general comments are these. I am a really big advocate of taking control of your own life so that of course will very much color my thoughts

• we've been at this living wage thing for a minute., maybe it would be nice if every job paid wages that allowed it's employees a middle class life style but that's not reality. nor was it ever reality.
• whether you agree or not society has deemed some jobs "un skilled" or low wages. hospitality unfortunately is some of the poorest paying gigs in this country. does not mean the employee is not a great guy or gal nor works hard. it means the job is not going to support a great standard of living. I don't care how many hours someone works there.
• from what I've read the union was offered a $1.00/hr raise to 16 hour starting salary (as of feb 17th, got this off of the union website)
• obviously Disney doesn't mind having to replace workers, again yes need workers but the reality is the parks are operating fine.
• In a year with rampant inflation and skyrocketing housing cost, the company only offered a 1.00/hr raise. that right there is an indication of how much they value that 10 year employee. So that great 10 year veteran has got to ask himself "can I live a life financially that I think is okay" and he has to accept that, for the foreseeable future his wages are not going to keep pace with inflation

all of the above is public information, so sorry again if a person choses to accept that job and choses to stay, imo they cannot say it's the companies fault. I do think they will get to 17.00 hour. I do not think they will get to 22 bucks an hour.

I don't work at Disney, nor do I live in florida, this is just my guess with a very hazy crystal ball

Having been in similar situations (at fortunately a higher pay point), I agree that you should get the most money and the most benefits for your skills, company culture be damned. That said, Disney is a for-profit company with a public reputation, and I can't blame the employees if they use those facts to try and get more money. It's not like they're scrubbing toilets at a nonprofit or Mysterious Evil, Inc., they are supposed to be at the Happiest Place on Earth.

 

[_caleb]

Having been in similar situations (at fortunately a higher pay point), I agree that you should get the most money and the most benefits for your skills, company culture be damned. That said, Disney is a for-profit company with a public reputation, and I can't blame the employees if they use those facts to try and get more money. It's not like they're scrubbing toilets at a nonprofit or Mysterious Evil, Inc., they are supposed to be at the Happiest Place on Earth.

I hear Mysterious Evil, Inc. actually offers great benefits, flexible work hours, and a company car.

 

[Lilofan]

Having been in similar situations (at fortunately a higher pay point), I agree that you should get the most money and the most benefits for your skills, company culture be damned. That said, Disney is a for-profit company with a public reputation, and I can't blame the employees if they use those facts to try and get more money. It's not like they're scrubbing toilets at a nonprofit or Mysterious Evil, Inc., they are supposed to be at the Happiest Place on Earth.

When the unions eventually succumb to the Mouse and then convince which they will the cast to approve the contract - Keep dreaming. Also other members have posted , cast don't like their situation, then ......

 

[Lilofan]

so i guess my general comments are these. I am a really big advocate of taking control of your own life so that of course will very much color my thoughts

• we've been at this living wage thing for a minute., maybe it would be nice if every job paid wages that allowed it's employees a middle class life style but that's not reality. nor was it ever reality.
• whether you agree or not society has deemed some jobs "un skilled" or low wages. hospitality unfortunately is some of the poorest paying gigs in this country. does not mean the employee is not a great guy or gal nor works hard. it means the job is not going to support a great standard of living. I don't care how many hours someone works there.
• from what I've read the union was offered a $1.00/hr raise to 16 hour starting salary (as of feb 17th, got this off of the union website)
• obviously Disney doesn't mind having to replace workers, again yes need workers but the reality is the parks are operating fine.
• In a year with rampant inflation and skyrocketing housing cost, the company only offered a 1.00/hr raise. that right there is an indication of how much they value that 10 year employee. So that great 10 year veteran has got to ask himself "can I live a life financially that I think is okay" and he has to accept that, for the foreseeable future his wages are not going to keep pace with inflation

all of the above is public information, so sorry again if a person choses to accept that job and choses to stay, imo they cannot say it's the companies fault. I do think they will get to 17.00 hour. I do not think they will get to 22 bucks an hour.

I don't work at Disney, nor do I live in florida, this is just my guess with a very hazy crystal ball

Scenario - raise up the starting rate to $20 per hour and then take away their family and friends free park tickets entries cast perks then you will see dissatisfaction and complaining like never before.

 

[MR.Dis]

If you think it is relevant today Mar 1st, 2023 17.50 in Canadian dollars is 12.86 in US dollars. I am not so sure that 17.50 quoted is in US dollars, maybe it is, but I wasn't clear on that. Friends I have in Canada always indicate to me we make more money here when cost of living is factored in, but that could just be my group of friends in Canada as well. Canada is big and spread out and I am sure it is similar to the USA where the cities cost more to live but pay substantially more than out in the boonies too. It is too hard to generalize anyone's pay and compare.

The major problem in Florida is the growth of population is faster than the homes and apartments and even roads begin built. When a 1 bedroom goes from 800.00 to 1700.00 plus in 5 years right across the street from where I live in the Orlando area because of lack of availability there is no way wages can catch up. Wages don't increase because there aren't enough homes, that is the employees problem.

Right now CM's have to move much further away from the parks becasue of this issue and they still pay more than ever before for their apartments or homes. Even the College program where the kids live on site hardly have any money at all after the apartments are paid for and exactly why both my kids refused Disney's offers.

In 5 years I believe the cost of living will settle here in the Orlando area, but until the home and apartments availability outpaces the people moving here it's just going to be tough for anyone starting out in life or starting at the bottom of any company fresh to make it here. We can expect fair pay, but asking for a raise to match what is happening in Orlando for the reason of lack of availability is not fair to any busineses. When the prices reduce in 5 years does the business get to reduce the pay back down lower? 18 an hour for me is the sweet spot, WDW should just pay that and get it over with.

The economy is cyclical. Orlando has a housing shortage today, but back in 2008 there was an oversupply. The mortgage meltdown hit the Orlando area hard. You could buy a fairly new constructed Condo for pennies on a dollar. My wife and I came close to pulling the trigger on buying a second home but got cold feet--man do I regret, a real lost opportunity. The point is, eventually the cycle will turn again and the supply and demand will balance out. The advantage of age is having lived thru these cycles, the disadvantages are man do I have aches and pains I never new could exist -LOL.

 

[dovetail65]

The economy is cyclical. Orlando has a housing shortage today, but back in 2008 there was an oversupply. The mortgage meltdown hit the Orlando area hard. You could buy a fairly new constructed Condo for pennies on a dollar. My wife and I came close to pulling the trigger on buying a second home but got cold feet--man do I regret, a real lost opportunity. The point is, eventually the cycle will turn again and the supply and demand will balance out. The advantage of age is having lived thru these cycles, the disadvantages are man do I have aches and pains I never new could exist -LOL.

Well 2008 the entire country was in that fix. Orlando is just getting to the size population of larger metropolitan areas and in many senses will forever now have the issues the large cities have faced since they grew. We bought a second home 5 years ago, yeah 2008 might have been cheaper of course, but if we tried to buy today we simply could not retire here near Disney. So glad I won that argument with the wife 5 years ago to buy this place. Today we could not afford to buy this very home in FL I am sitting in right now and it is no palace by any means.

 

[Lilofan]

The economy is cyclical. Orlando has a housing shortage today, but back in 2008 there was an oversupply. The mortgage meltdown hit the Orlando area hard. You could buy a fairly new constructed Condo for pennies on a dollar. My wife and I came close to pulling the trigger on buying a second home but got cold feet--man do I regret, a real lost opportunity. The point is, eventually the cycle will turn again and the supply and demand will balance out. The advantage of age is having lived thru these cycles, the disadvantages are man do I have aches and pains I never new could exist -LOL.

Some Orlando foreclosed condos were selling for under $50K in 2009 , the same condos now are selling for $300K.

 

[Polkadotdress]

If a CM starts at $15/hr. At that point, it's a race for the CM to learn the job, develop the skills, and prove their value so that they can begin to take on more responsibility (and therefore higher pay). For some, they can tough it out at $15 for a year or two by living in mom's basement.

Not even remotely possible. There are no basements in FL.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Not even remotely possible. There are no basements in FL.

There are basements up north in the pan handle.

Also, I saw with my own eyes a oil change place in central Florida that had an actual basement! I couldn’t believe my eyes!

I guess we can’t count the utilidors as basements because they were built at ground level and the Magic Kingdom was built on top of them.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Just so I got it right, after June, Universal will be paying their team members a full $2 more an hour to start compared to WDW CMs?

 

[Ayla]

The economy?
The documented US Government Federal Payscales?
Any number of news articles where public servants are begging for raises in this year's budget cycle? How many would you like?
Want to take a poll on the site and see how many people got merit raises each year?

What is your line of work that you have gotten merit raises (not COLA) each and every year you've had the same role.

My husband gets a merit raise every single year. He's worked there for 22 years and averages 8-12% each year.

 

[flynnibus]

My husband gets a merit raise every single year. He's worked there for 22 years and averages 8-12% each year.

Do you believe your husband's position to be the norm and the default for everyone?

50k a year with 10% raises every year for 22years would be making 407k/yr.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Do you believe your husband's position to be the norm and the default for everyone?

You’re the one that suggested a poll to see how many people got merit raises this year.

Did you?

I personally negotiated a 5% raise and got it. Not sure if that’s merit or not since I asked for it? You’ll have to decide as the polls-keeper!

 

[flynnibus]

You’re the one that suggested a poll to see how many people got merit raises this year.

Did you?

I personally negotiated a 5% raise and got it. Not sure if that’s merit or not since I asked for it? You’ll have to decide as the polls-keeper!

You negotiated a 5% raise. Congrats. But earlier you said getting a raise EVERY YEAR was the standard... so what did you negotiate?

You still don't understand the difference between a merit increase and a COLA?

One response is not a conclusive poll. And you still conveniently ignored all the other cites stating to the contrary.

But contrats to you and the guy making 814% more than he started. There also were quite a few people that won hundreds of millions in Powerball... does that mean we conclude everyone should be winning the Powerball jackpot?

This isn't how conclusions work. You don't find a few outlier data points and extrapolate that to 100% probability.

 

[Lilofan]

Not even remotely possible. There are no basements in FL.

One owner turned their two door garage into a studio apt complete with kitchenette , bathroom and AC and rented out to tenants.

 

[drizgirl]

Not even remotely possible. There are no basements in FL.

Or perhaps they were talking about a proverbial basement.

 

[Trauma]

My husband gets a merit raise every single year. He's worked there for 22 years and averages 8-12% each year.

Things that are not true for 300 please Alex …

 

[mkt]

One owner turned their two door garage into a studio apt complete with kitchenette , bathroom and AC and rented out to tenants.

Was it done legally? It's not uncommon, but it's also not commonly done legally.