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

[DisneyDebRob]

Be got to eat my sub at Wawa with a knife and fork. On the touchscreen I order almost every single topping and dressing for my sub, the sandwich is beyond overflowing.

You have a good Wawa then. I’ve been eating them for 30-40 years and they have definitely gone downhill. Typical thing that happens when you expand and grow so much. Not saying they aren’t good but I have sandwich places that laugh at Wawa hoagies around me. Cheaper and better quality.

 

[kong1802]

Ehh.. that's a little skewed. That's presenting it like margin is always just profit and the only reason to profit is shareholder value. That's a gross simplification. 1) Without margin a business can't survive. 2) Profits are also what fuel future investment - a company without profits can't survive because they can't do necessary investments to keep current

Now obviously excess profit is what you want to use to show shareholder value, either through valuation or by returning it to shareholders.. and the more you have, the better it looks. But rising costs leading to rising prices isn't about excess profits alone... sacrificing profitability is also a risk to your forward viability. So rising costs are going to drive up prices even if you've minimized excess profits.

It's a simple example, not one to dive into the multitude of ratios and factors involved.

My point isn't about a company having to make due with no profits or even lower profits. It's the fact that they are "forced" to increase profits at an uneven rate just for the sake of ratio analysis.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Got to eat my sub at Wawa with a knife and fork. On the touchscreen I order almost every single topping and dressing for my sub, the sandwich is beyond overflowing.

They’re good, I eat them on occasion, but they’re not a Jersey Mike’s sub…

 

[Nubs70]

Forgive me if this has already been mentioned.

A large issue today is the reliance and use of the stock market as the end all be all.

A lot of firms use ratios to determine investment strategy, which in turn can impact stock $.

Corporations have become laser focused on "creating shareholder value", and thus are also laser focused on ratios.

This is why it is incorrect to assume that direct labor has a 1:1 relationship with overall price of a good. It's actually worse than that.

Say a company sold a product for $2 and for ease let's pretend that the only cost is labor at $1. They have a ratio of 100% which looks pretty strong to investors. Now the labor force wants .50 more. The company could just pass that along, and sell the product for $2.50. After all, they would still make their $1 on every sale. But, what about "creating shareholder value"? What would they do if they couldn't keep their stock price soaring upwards based on their terrific ratios?! So they decide that they must keep that ratio of 100%, and they price their good now at $3 ($3 to $1.50 in cost). The era of ratios and the intense focus on only shareholders has gotten us into an insane spiral. We blame the people wanting $.50, but fail to see the real issue where the company decided it "had" to make an extra $.50 in profit to cover that cost. As usual, 80% of the country gets played.

This is the margin % game.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Need to get them during the one month during summer where the classic are 5 bucks at Wawa. At 9 bucks I’m not to sure anymore.

Hoagiefest? It goes like 4 months now

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Hoagiefest? It goes like 4 months now

Does it? Lol Shows you how I’m out of the Wawa thing. I thought it was one month during the summer. Good ole Hoagiefest!

 

[celluloid]

Need to get them during the one month during summer where the classic are 5 bucks at Wawa. At 9 bucks I’m not to sure anymore.

Oh I am well aware of Hoagie Fest. There is nothing like Wawa's moist peppers.

 

[Patcheslee]

Something is way off there... the point of a High Deductible plan is your premiums are lower than a PPO or HMO style plan in trade for the higher deductible. In generally it should look 'cheaper' than the alternative, especially to those who don't use a lot of coverage.

But of course if your employer also basically stopped contributing to your medical benefits cost, your premiums could have skyrocketed alongside a switch to a HDHP.

The whole model of why an employer pushes the plan is because the health plan is cheaper (due to the higher deductibles), thus lowering their contribution obligations.. and many employers offer employees incentives to move to the HDP to help push them.

I've had a high deductible plan for probably a decade now and it's been great. But they've nicked at it over the years by raising the OOP minimum and adding a 90% coverage level. And having a HSA blows the doors off of FSA accounts too.

That's exactly what happened for premiums. It was only half the cost precovid, then they cut their contribution and upped our weekly cost at the same time. Ours is an 80/20 plan so still not that great. This is a family plan so not sure if that makes a difference much. Deductible is also wage based so because I'm over 42k a year, my deductible is 12k instead of 10k. They contribute 2k to an HSA account, but that again is cut to 1k instead because of my wages. It's been complained about enough at renewal last October they offered a PPO again, but stupid expensive.

 

[Nubs70]

That's exactly what happened for premiums. It was only half the cost precovid, then they cut their contribution and upped our weekly cost at the same time. Ours is an 80/20 plan so still not that great. This is a family plan so not sure if that makes a difference much. Deductible is also wage based so because I'm over 42k a year, my deductible is 12k instead of 10k. They contribute 2k to an HSA account, but that again is cut to 1k instead because of my wages. It's been complained about enough at renewal last October they offered a PPO again, but stupid expensive.

And once deductible is reached, the insurance company will apply the "usual and customary" clause which turns the 80/20 into 50/50

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Something is way off there... the point of a High Deductible plan is your premiums are lower than a PPO or HMO style plan in trade for the higher deductible. In generally it should look 'cheaper' than the alternative, especially to those who don't use a lot of coverage.

But of course if your employer also basically stopped contributing to your medical benefits cost, your premiums could have skyrocketed alongside a switch to a HDHP.

The whole model of why an employer pushes the plan is because the health plan is cheaper (due to the higher deductibles), thus lowering their contribution obligations.. and many employers offer employees incentives to move to the HDP to help push them.

I've had a high deductible plan for probably a decade now and it's been great. But they've nicked at it over the years by raising the OOP minimum and adding a 90% coverage level. And having a HSA blows the doors off of FSA accounts too.

That's exactly what happened for premiums. It was only half the cost precovid, then they cut their contribution and upped our weekly cost at the same time. Ours is an 80/20 plan so still not that great. This is a family plan so not sure if that makes a difference much. Deductible is also wage based so because I'm over 42k a year, my deductible is 12k instead of 10k. They contribute 2k to an HSA account, but that again is cut to 1k instead because of my wages. It's been complained about enough at renewal last October they offered a PPO again, but stupid expensive.

And once deductible is reached, the insurance company will apply the "usual and customary" clause which turns the 80/20 into 50/50

Is tonight the night we make the case for Medicare for all?

 

[mkt]

Chickfilas are gold mines.

And one of the cheapest franchises to buy.

Now you've made me second guess my morals.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

And one of the cheapest franchises to buy.

Now you've made me second guess my morals.

Cheap…but I hear highly selective

 

[Nubs70]

Is tonight the night we make the case for Medicare for all?

We all know government will improve the quality and reduce the cost.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We all know government will improve the quality and reduce the cost.

Touché

However the long term (not as long as they used to be) projections indicate Health care expense will collapse the economy…so there’s that too

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Then you make other compromises. Go below median if you want to live on your own in Orlando. Or live outside of the city to a location that is a bit cheaper.

If you want perfect and easy, or easier...you will need to make more money. Is this now the expectation? Demand a wage that allows you to live without sacrifice and compromise? Always in comfort?

Holy moly this post is remarkably tone-deaf. Perhaps, and I don’t know, but perhaps as a park-goer my experience would be improved by cast members who are making enough money to lead the bare minimum of normal lifestyle.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

The Disney experience is one of the most expensive ones for many families, and the costs for food, hotels, theme parks, and just about everything else is markedly more expensive than comparable experiences.

The last CEO frequently bragged both about parks revenue and profitability.

To the extent the company’s not paying their employees enough, that it not a problem caused by the guests not paying enough.

 

[Lilofan]

Holy moly this post is remarkably tone-deaf. Perhaps, and I don’t know, but perhaps as a park-goer my experience would be improved by cast members who are making enough money to lead the bare minimum of normal lifestyle.

No but this post is tone deaf. I doubt feel sorry for someone paying astronomical rent / wants to still live in same location , complain about , but doesn't think of other options like moving to cheaper COL area.

 

[Lilofan]

Touché

However the long term (not as long as they used to be) projections indicate Health care expense will collapse the economy…so there’s that too

Perhaps Christine TWDC CFO made about portion sizes for certain guests that keys into the rampant obesity in our country which drives more and more into using medical care facilities and meds? My obesity back in the day and my bloodwork results and doctor consul scared me straight and diet and exercise ( not always easy ) is my daily regimen for the last 20 years.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The Disney PRODUCT is one of the most expensive ones for many families, and the costs for food, hotels, theme parks, and just about everything else is markedly more expensive than comparable experiences.

The last CEO frequently bragged both about parks revenue and profitability.

To the extent the company’s not paying their employees enough, that it not a problem caused by the guests not paying enough.

FTFY…

It’s a product…we need to be better consumers and get back to this.

Maintaining a value structure helps us AND Disney. Because they stay focused on standards.

It’s not an “experience”…that’s the Prom.
They’re manipulating you with that term.

 

[flynnibus]

That's exactly what happened for premiums. It was only half the cost precovid, then they cut their contribution and upped our weekly cost at the same time. Ours is an 80/20 plan so still not that great. This is a family plan so not sure if that makes a difference much. Deductible is also wage based so because I'm over 42k a year, my deductible is 12k instead of 10k. They contribute 2k to an HSA account, but that again is cut to 1k instead because of my wages. It's been complained about enough at renewal last October they offered a PPO again, but stupid expensive.

Sorry your employer is cheaping out on you big time. 2k to the hsa is pretty good tho. I think mine is down to like 700.

I believe ours brags they still pay about 80% of our benefits cost. our high deductible plan is about half the cost of the ppo for a family and our deductible is only 3k in network where it hits 90% coverage then at 4500 it goes to 100% coverage. Out of network is only like 1500 more. With kids… 3k is like one er visit plus one other thing… so hitting the deductible was never a problem. Even this calendar year I’ve already hit the deductible.

Limits like 10k should be criminal and just thought of as life event coverage.

I know i used to do the math for my plans and if you frequently used services… the max out of pocket per year for deductibles and premiums combined was lower on the hdhp vs ppo by like 20% and you got the hsa benefits.

My hsa is basically another pre-tax 401k account. You know medical expenses are a given when you are retired… so no worries about what legit expenses it will be used for years from now.