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

[lazyboy97o]

Unfortunately this is irrelevant to most companies, unless Disney suddenly becomes altruistic instead of profit driven (not gonna happen) the only thing they are going to look at is how much other employers in the area are paying.

This is why I asked earlier what other local companies are paying, if Disney is already paying $5 an hour more than the other businesses in the area competing for the same employees there isn’t much risk you’ll leave them, no one’s going to leave a $16 an hour job to go work for someone down the street for $11.

Universal threw a huge wrench in the works for Disney, now that the competition for employees is paying $17 Disney will have to too, but I wouldn’t expect a cent over $17 because there’s no business incentive for Disney to offer more.

Not saying it’s right but it’s how business works, on the plus side $17 is a whole lot closer than $15 to that living wage.

Walt Disney World is under staffed. So that suggests that even with other places offering less, people are choosing those options over Disney.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Since Iger has returned, the stock has increased about $10. Creating almost 20 billion in shareholder value.

His comments on Hulu might end up saving the company $10 billion more dollars.

Seems like he is a good investment.

You never fail to miss the point and spew some nonsense “millennial Econ”

…but only on days ending in “y”

 

[LSLS]

Unfortunately this is irrelevant to what Disney should be willing to pay, unless Disney suddenly becomes altruistic instead of profit driven (not gonna happen) the only thing they are going to look at is how much other employers in the area are paying.

This is why I asked earlier what other local companies are paying, if Disney is already paying $5 an hour more than the other businesses in the area competing for the same employees there isn’t much risk you’ll leave them, no one’s going to leave a $16 an hour job to go work for someone down the street for $11.

Universal threw a huge wrench in the works for Disney, now that the competition for employees is paying $17 Disney will have to too, but I wouldn’t expect a cent over $17 because there’s no business incentive for Disney to offer more.

Not saying it’s right but it’s how business works, on the plus side $17 is a whole lot closer than $15 to that living wage.



Spot on, Disney just needs to be more appealing than the other available jobs to keep their staff, which they currently are.

They aren't last time I checked, the Mariott's and other hotels were offering the same pay for front desk/cleaners as Disney.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

What happens to that stock price if every WDW employee decides not to show up for work?

Disney knows a strike is very unlikely, a strike would hurt the CMs as much as (or more) than it would hurt Disney.

For Disney it would be a public relations nightmare but for a lot of CMs it would lead to financial ruin.

The CMs are caught between a rock and a hard place, they can’t keep up with inflation on the current pay but they also can’t afford to go without a paycheck to try to force it to change.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Unfortunately this is irrelevant to what Disney should be willing to pay, unless Disney suddenly becomes altruistic instead of profit driven (not gonna happen) the only thing they are going to look at is how much other employers in the area are paying.

This is why I asked earlier what other local companies are paying, if Disney is already paying $5 an hour more than the other businesses in the area competing for the same employees there isn’t much risk you’ll leave them, no one’s going to leave a $16 an hour job to go work for someone down the street for $11.

Universal threw a huge wrench in the works for Disney, now that the competition for employees is paying $17 Disney will have to too, but I wouldn’t expect a cent over $17 because there’s no business incentive for Disney to offer more.

Not saying it’s right but it’s how business works, on the plus side $17 is a whole lot closer than $15 to that living wage.



Spot on, Disney just needs to be more appealing than the other available jobs to keep their staff, which they currently are.

Disney has struggled to maintain employment -with gigantic turnover - for decades

Couple that with ridiculously bad Covid mistakes…and they realistically have to overpay

I bet their problems are far worse than we realize

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Walt Disney World is under staffed. So that suggests that even with other places offering less, people are choosing those options over Disney.

We just went last month and I didn’t notice anything closed, as long as everything’s open and those cash registers are ringing Disney likely doesn’t care if they’re understaffed. They probably view that as saving on payroll and benefits.

It didn’t look like the lack of non revenue generating things like the trams or daily house keeping was keeping people away.

 

[Casper Gutman]

DIS has 203,000 employees world wide.

Iger makes $27MM/year
$1MM base salary
$1MM performance incentive
Up to $25MM in stock options

If Iger worked for $0/yr in total compensation and funds equally redistributed, each employee would receive (assuning 2080 hours/year):

$133/year or $0.064/hr - total compensation.
$4.93/ or $0.0024/hr - salary only consideration

Stock options:

Current value if 1 share DIS = $107.73
$25MM/$107.73 = 232,061 shares
232,061/202,999 = 1.14 shares/ee

Therefore,

If Iger worked for $0 total compensation and all funds were equitably redistributed to the remaining employees,

Salary employees would receive:
Bonus check = $133
Stock option = 1.14 shares

Hourly employees would receive:
Hourly increase = $0.064/hr
Stock option = 1.14 shares

I think Clark Griswold's "Jelly of the Month Club" cost more than that.

Some odd assumptions here - Iger isn’t the only exec with an inflated salary and we’re not talking about every Disney employee worldwide, we’re talking about front-line and lower level management at the Disney World resort. Almost like your cooking the books a bit.

In truth, of course, no one thinks redistributing exec salaries is a solution to the problem or even a substantial part of the solution. Those inflated exec salaries are more important as symptoms of a more profound set of warped priorities and fundamental systemic problems.

Let’s talk, instead, about stock buybacks. First, I’d point out such buybacks were illegal until 1982. In 2017, Disney spent 9.216 billion in stock buybacks. Now, if you used that money to increase the wages of EVERY Disney employee, not just the ones at WDW, they’d each get a raise of about $45,400 a year. That seems pretty substantial. In fact, you could PROBABLY find a way to increase employee wages, reinvest significant capital in the resorts, AND still have a substantial stock buyback - if those were your priorities, of course. By the way, if you’re curious as to why the stock jumped when Iger returned, this might explain a bit of that.

 

[Lilofan]

They aren't last time I checked, the Mariott's and other hotels were offering the same pay for front desk/cleaners as Disney.

The one difference is that if these hotels are not unionized , management can cut them to a bare bones schedule reflective of business . Disney F/T unionized cast are guaranteed 32 hours per week from the contract.

 

[el_super]

Walt Disney World is under staffed.

That's debatable.

 

[Lilofan]

Disney has struggled to maintain employment -with gigantic turnover - for decades

Couple that with ridiculously bad Covid mistakes…and they realistically have to overpay

I bet their problems are far worse than we realize

Years ago I met an engineering mechanic working overtime as a park greeter. He boasted the fact that he was getting time and a half overtime pay to his buddy just to stand around and talk and greet guests. Now you do the math when he is making a mechanic hourly pay then time and a half as a park greeter far less complex than his regular role doing attractions maintenance. . Its a nice paycheck.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

They aren't last time I checked, the Mariott's and other hotels were offering the same pay for front desk/cleaners as Disney.

The key word being “same”. Disney has to offer what others in the area offer to stay competitive for employees, that’s it.

The one positive for CMs is there’s a labor shortage in the whole area, which is driving up pay across the whole area, pay has skyrocketed from $10-12 an hour just 3 years ago to $16-17 an hour today. Unfortunately inflation is going up just as fast.

 

[flynnibus]

Universal threw a huge wrench in the works for Disney, now that the competition for employees is paying $17 Disney will have to too, but I wouldn’t expect a cent over $17 because there’s no business incentive for Disney to offer more.

Well, the incentive is 'needing people'

The problem is with a union your hands are tied in deciding when to pay what.

 

[Piebald]

And what do people think is going to happen when the area's largest two employers raise wages for tens of thousands of employees?

If the Facebook groups about moving to Orlando because they love Disney are any indication it's that the CMs will find themselves more priced out than they already are. People continue coming here or inquiring about coming here under the antiquated idea Orlando is cheap and affordable.

 

[Ayla]

If the Facebook groups about moving to Orlando because they love Disney are any indication it's that the CMs will find themselves more priced out than they already are. People continue coming here or inquiring about coming here under the antiquated idea Orlando is cheap and affordable.

All those people are delusional.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

If the Facebook groups about moving to Orlando because they love Disney are any indication it's that the CMs will find themselves more priced out than they already are. People continue coming here or inquiring about coming here under the antiquated idea Orlando is cheap and affordable.

I don’t think many people outside CA and the northeast megalopolis consider FL cheap anymore… the weather and theme parks are still a huge draw many people are willing to pay for though.

Ironic that the employees who make the parks so fun are competing for housing against the people they are helping attract.

 

[flynnibus]

I don’t think many people outside CA and the northeast megalopolis consider FL cheap anymore… the weather and theme parks are still a huge draw many people are willing to pay for though.

FL is still considered cheap - just not necessarily Orlando for those looking for cheap living on lower incomes.

FL's tax advantages still has thousands flocking to it.. just to different parts of the state.. and not people looking for service industry work. It's all the people with more income, selling expensive homes up north and moving south to retire or get close to it.

 

[Andrew C]

I don’t think many people outside CA and the northeast megalopolis consider FL cheap anymore… the weather and theme parks are still a huge draw many people are willing to pay for though.

Ironic that the employees who make the parks so fun are competing for housing against the people they are helping attract.

Apparently, Florida has the 32nd lowest cost of living in the US...Orlando specifically, ehh....3% above national average according to a quick search.

 

[jpdonald1991]

Years ago I met an engineering mechanic working overtime as a park greeter. He boasted the fact that he was getting time and a half overtime pay to his buddy just to stand around and talk and greet guests. Now you do the math when he is making a mechanic hourly pay then time and a half as a park greeter far less complex than his regular role doing attractions maintenance. . Its a nice paycheck.

From my understanding of the situation Disney has cut OT severely since raising pay. The nice paycheck of the past has vanished for most employees.

 

[Patcheslee]

That is the question. I would assume in the short term not a whole lot. Depends on how long the CMs are really willing to strike for. Or if they are willing to strike at all.



Technically the contract expired in Oct. Typically they will agree to follow the terms of the previous contract while the new one is being negotiated, but if the negotiations break down, it would still be an option.

Of course, they aren't really in a position to strike, and most likely won't. Disney knows this and that's why Disney has all the power over them.

We haven't heard anything about a strike authorization vote yet, so they can't do much except attempt to negotiate.

 

[el_super]

We haven't heard anything about a strike authorization vote yet, so they can't do much except attempt to negotiate.

There's still SOME things they can do (and are probably planning right now). Some more protests or some other PR events. Their best course of action is to try to convince some people to stop visiting. The likelihood of those having much of an impact is pretty low though.