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

[JD80]

It sorta seems like employers and employees are disagreeing over employees’ value, and the market will sort it out - either employers will have to raise wages, or employees will have to settle for less. But employers are so used to being able to define employee value that this is being viewed as some abhorrent upheaval and all sorts of really nasty insults are being slung at employees.

If you notice the messaging being used is mostly "you're stealing my money".

 

[flynnibus]

It seems people don't realize real estate whether it's buy or rent is incredibly different today than it was 30 years ago. He'll it's different from 10.

You've got private companies buying up residential properties more than ever and driving up rental costs.

We aren't living in the past. I have three adult children. Including one that bought a house in 2018, a car in 2019.. and doesn't have a college degree.

I live in the richest per capita county in the country. How did my kid do it? SHE MOVED to a cheaper area. No one lowered prices so she could afford it.

 

[JD80]

We aren't living in the past. I have three adult children. Including one that bought a house in 2018, a car in 2019.. and doesn't have a college degree.

I live in the richest per capita county in the country. How did my kid do it? SHE MOVED to a cheaper area. No one lowered prices so she could afford it.

Ah knowing your age bracket makes your previous posts make much more sense.

 

[Lilofan]

I agree with you, and I think I'm seeing red solely because my relatives use these talking points I'm seeing here often - adding that they don't want newer generations to be a level/better playing field than they had. So it drives me up a wall when I read the same points I hear from my extremely selfish Fox News family. @Lilofan if that ultimately wasn't your point I'm sorry for being overtly hostile.
Myself, I worked through college and had multiple internships through my bachelor's and master's. I have a great position but a ton of loans, and I want mine and future generations to attain more equitable fruit for our labor. So seeing people want the lifeblood of the company to be worse off whilst simultaneously gloating about how their tangential experience beat the average really grinds my gears.

Everyone has an experience in college and none of it was easy. One ambitious kid at Yale had 2 paid jobs at the same time while being a full time student ( on financial aid ) residing on campus. He was paid to sit around ( tough job ) and respond all over campus to see if copy machines had a paper jam etc / need servicing . At the same time while sitting around he would tutor others online and get paid for that too.

 

[flynnibus]

It sure sounds like they’re exercising their power not to take a job for a wage they don’t want and that’s what’s infuriating you.

Do you a reading problem? I think you do.. when you can't pickup that the people described are the ones WHO DID TAKE THE JOB and then are confused when they get fired for NOT SHOWING UP.

 

[flynnibus]

Ah knowing your age bracket makes your previous posts make much more sense.

Because your '30 yrs ago' comments are complete WAGs to try to dismiss reality? Sure

Maybe.. just maybe... you're talking to people who not only lived it in the past, but live it now too.. because we are employees, we are employers, we are parents, we are neighbors. We have actual experience that isn't discountable with dismissive "you don't know what it's like!!" kind of whines.

 

[Andrew C]

Problem here for Disney is they need tens of thousands of people in one location who aren’t currently aiming higher and who are willing to put up with a little more crap and hassle than most jobs in the same range to do what they want done, where they need.it done.

That’s a Disney problem people are somehow trying to twist into a cast member life-choice problem in this discussion.

It’s a good thing Disney is willing to raise wages then. We will see what the final arrangement will be. But whatever it is, don’t expect average CMs to suddenly be amazing CMs. Doesn’t work that way and is usually more about leadership actually leading (and the CMs general skills and values).

 

[CaptainAmerica]

My take away is no one can afford a typical away from home state school on their own without significant scholarships.

No one pays "sticker price" for college except for the extremely wealthy. Yeah you need scholarship, but everyone gets scholarship, and the poor and working class get the most scholarships. And the elite schools (i.e. the most expensive schools) are the most generous with their financial aid.

By my count, there are at least 60 universities that guarantee to meet every student's demonstrated financial need 100%. And they're not all ultra-selective, good-luck-getting-on-the-waitlist places.

If your family can afford tuition out of pocket, great. If you get scholarships, great. If you take on significant debt for a top program that virtually guarantees significant starting salary, great. If you attend an in-state public university for subsidized tuition and an expected modest starting salary, great. If you take on significant debt for a middling-but-expensive program or out-of-state public school that might get you an okay starting salary if you're lucky, you're foolish.

If you got a 4yr degree and are trying to figure out how to live on starting wage jobs for years on end... you got bigger problems.

Amen.

 

[Lilofan]

It’s a good thing Disney is willing to raise wages then. We will see what the final arrangement will be. But whatever it is, don’t expect average CMs to suddenly be amazing CMs. Doesn’t work that way and is usually more about leadership actually leading (and the CMs general skills and values).

If the cast are still on mandatory OT, that paycheck will be more and hopefully that can help pay for bills / pay off debt. If one chooses to get more in debt for other things then that is their problem.

 

[Tha Realest]

Amazed at some people's lack of awareness in this thread.

WDW shouldn't be run with majority Frontline employees that make minimum or close to minimum wage. It's a luxury resort that is demanding a luxury price. I think Disney can do better.

This is why UP! is Disney’s most subversive film. It’s about lifelong amusement park employees that could never afford to take a vacation.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It sorta seems like employers and employees are disagreeing over employees’ value, and the market will sort it out - either employers will have to raise wages, or employees will have to settle for less.

Based.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Do you a reading problem? I think you do.. when you can't pickup that the people described are the ones WHO DID TAKE THE JOB and then are confused when they get fired for NOT SHOWING UP.

The post I was responding to did not make this clear at all, and I had to go back several posts to find any hint that this was what you were talking about.

If your employees don’t do what you want, fire them and hire others who will. That’s fine. But from the tone of your posts, I suspect there are other reasons employees might not happily live up to your expectations.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Amazed at some people's lack of awareness in this thread.

WDW shouldn't be run with majority Frontline employees that make minimum or close to minimum wage. It's a luxury resort that is demanding a luxury price. I think Disney can do better.

WDW is not a luxury resort, and its employees do not make anywhere close to minimum wage.

So...

 

[Lilofan]

Amazed at some people's lack of awareness in this thread.

WDW shouldn't be run with majority Frontline employees that make minimum or close to minimum wage. It's a luxury resort that is demanding a luxury price. I think Disney can do better.

Get into an apprenticeship program at WDW and be a parks mechanic working on the rides / $30 per hour in a few years.

 

[Drdcm]

Everyone has an experience in college and none of it was easy. One ambitious kid at Yale had 2 paid jobs at the same time while being a full time student ( on financial aid ) residing on campus. He was paid to sit around ( tough job ) and respond all over campus to see if copy machines had a paper jam etc / need servicing . At the same time while sitting around he would tutor others online and get paid for that too.

I did this as well, I tutored ochem, gen chem, gen bio, gen physics, and calculus. I didn’t take another on campus jobs, because there was a big need for tutoring.

Either way, this honestly has no bearing on what I think should happen to CMs.

My impression is this. Disney needs employees and a lot of them. They’re having trouble finding new employees, the park experience is hurting as a result. In order to meet these needs, they have to incentivize employment to the point where people take and keep the jobs. My guess is that they have to raise wages to do this. The market is making the determination in real time and we can all see it. It’s not really employee entitlement. I would say that the CMs deserve it in the current market.

Now the cultural shift to expecting more… I’m going to stay out of that.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It’s a good thing every boss in this thread is spectacularly perfect, but it’s kind of surprising given how almost universally lackluster employees are. With that many greedy morons in the general population, you’d think some might become employers, but I guess not.

 

[MrPromey]

It’s a good thing Disney is willing to raise wages then. We will see what the final arrangement will be. But whatever it is, don’t expect average CMs to suddenly be amazing CMs. Doesn’t work that way and is usually more about leadership actually leading (and the CMs general skills and values).

Well, whatever it is, it has to be enough for them to comfortably fill positions.

Otherwise, people already paying record high prices to stay at their resorts and visit their parks will continue to be left wondering why years after COVID, things as basic as tram service haven’t been fully restored.

It’s the same supply/demand issue people like to bring up in defense of Disney when they raise prices - they can because there are more people who want to go at current prices than they have room for.

Why does it suddenly become a moral argument against hard work and some weird discussion about class and people knowing their place when that same argument is used to discuss Disney trying to attract enough cast to cover their (Disney’s) needs?

Isn't Disney getting squeezed to pay more in a climate where cast have the leverage to demand it the same as Disney squeezing us to pay more in an economy where they feel like they can get away with it?

Why is one okay and the other some sin against humanity?

 

[flynnibus]

I’m so sick of these “hiring young people examples” and the like, I’ve managed quick service restaurants for the better part of four years, if you hire good people and train well you’ll more than likely get good work. I usually say 1 in 3 people of everyone I hired would work out. It’s just the nature of the business.

So by your own account, you're saying you hire good people and train well.. and you still have a 66% fail rate. That is horrible and WHY people are complaining about current state of affairs.

Someone acting like you're asking for their kidney when you challenge them why they NCNS is not a problem with training or pay. That's a personal issue. And not one that is rare or uncommon. Having people upset they can't just work whenever THEY feel like working is not a training or pay problem. These are worker attitude issues - and it's prevalent. THAT's what leads to comments like "people don't want to work" -- Not grievances over their pay.

Furthermore Disney employees more older people than other service industry employers. Secondly, most Disney CMs can’t really get a second job, they’re either working 40+ hours as a full time cast member or getting over scheduled as a part time cast member. This also doesn’t take into account those who have children and need to be home after xyz time to take care of their kids, etc.

And that's why I would never tell anyone to work at WDW in the non-skill frontline roles - their expectations for workers don't match their pay. From their lack of scheduling flexibility, to the amount of unpaid time you have to invest. It's a horrible decision to work there if you are actually worried about your living situation and what you can afford.

I agree WDW needs to pay more -- but because it should be based on what they need to attract -- not because Random Joe thinks any job should be worth X.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It’s a good thing every boss in this thread is spectacularly perfect, but it’s kind of surprising given how almost universally lackluster employees are. With that many greedy morons in the general population, you’d think some might become employers, but I guess not.

Managers are employees too.

 

[Lilofan]

It’s a good thing every boss in this thread is spectacularly perfect, but it’s kind of surprising given how almost universally lackluster employees are. With that many greedy morons in the general population, you’d think some might become employers, but I guess not.

Life experiences for some is blood sweat and tears.