News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

[Wendy Pleakley]

I tend to agree with you, but also I think it's important to support and take care of the first responders. Like the CMs, they play an equally important if not more so role in helping to ensure things flow smoothly and safely at the resort. I think they stepped in to a political battle and are now being dumped on because of it. I don't fault them for trying to get a better deal, even if I disagree with who they sided with to do so.

For sure, and I honestly have no idea if they're underpaid or overpaid so I have no comment on their compensation.

This does demonstrate that an employee group wading into politics can have repercussions,

 

[Splash4eva]

"Something bad happened to me, so bad things should also happen to other people."

No. Im pointing out the fact that benefits are cut from people all the time. Real life saving benefits. Complaining about losing theme park tickets to me is just not a life altering one.

 

[Splash4eva]

Personally, I just get a fun little tickle out of people on a Walt Disney World fan forum invoking the "1st world problems" discussion-ender and not expecting to get laughed out of the room.

Laughed out of the room. People are literally losing legit benefits. 401k matches. Free lunches/breakfast/ increased medical costs. This site is worried about people potentially having to pay more for access to a theMe park a luxury! So laugh all you want but priorities. Listen. God bless all the 1st responders & people who put their lives on the line. But across the country people are losing much worse where noone cares but we know why this is a story. Lets call a spade a spade…

 

[Goofyernmost]

This benefit was for all District employees, not just emergency services. There are also issues with giving gifts to public employees.

This.

Most public offices (gov't not for profit) allow up to a fixed amount, typically $25 or less. This could be the biggest barrier for Disney to do this unless there is some legal loop-hole they can find.

GIFT?? When you start a job and your employer offers you a Health Insurance that they partially pay for, is that a gift or a benefit? How about vacation time and sick time spelled out in you job summary, is that a gift of a benefit? What about the matching fund payment for Social Security, is that a gift or a benefit? How about matching funds or more for your contributions to a 401K, is that a gift or a benefit. How about for those that get mileage reimbursements when you provide your vehicle, is that a gift or a benefit? Even if you carried beer bottles up from the basement to the bar and they let you come in when you were off duty with no cover charge, gift or benefit?

Disney park workers no matter what department have always looked at the fact that they could get admission to a park and for a large number of people that was the primary reason that they wanted to work there. It certainly wasn't making them rich. Admission to a theme park is not an expense for Disney, it is a lack of income, but is an expense that doesn't exist for most of the people that already work there. For them it is just a reward they cannot afford for dealing with the increasingly butt hole resembling populace and state government.

 

[MrPromey]

Laughed out of the room. People are literally losing legit benefits. 401k matches. Free lunches/breakfast/ increased medical costs. This site is worried about people potentially having to pay more for access to a theMe park a luxury! So laugh all you want but priorities. Listen. God bless all the 1st responders & people who put their lives on the line. But across the country people are losing much worse where noone cares but we know why this is a story. Lets call a spade a spade…

Not just you - people invoke the "1st world problems" argument all the time on here on a forum where we're all discussing the epitome of discretionary spending.

1st responder pass and discount benefits/compensation, straws and lids on cups, crappy splash pad attractions - it's literally ALL 1st world problems.

We're not here talking about the war in Ukraine for gosh sake, we're talking about a friggin' theme park and the the politics of the district managing it in which none of us live.

 

[Splash4eva]

Not just you - people invoke the "1st world problems argument" all the time on here on a forum where we're all discussing the epitome of discretionary spending.

1st responder benefits, straws and lids on cups, crappy splash pad attractions - it's literally ALL 1st world problems.

We're not here talking about the war in Ukraine for gosh sake, we're talking about a friggin' theme park and the the politics of the district managing it in which none of us live.

Fair point. So ill remove 1st world problems comment and still make the same point and feel the same way….
People everywhere are losing real benefits. I cant see people having sympathy to those losing full theme park perks but as i said. I know why everyone is in a uproar over it. And yes. Its all political

 

[MrPromey]

GIFT?? When you start a job and your employer offers you a Health Insurance that they partially pay for, is that a gift or a benefit? How about vacation time and sick time spelled out in you job summary, is that a gift of a benefit? What about the matching fund payment for Social Security, is that a gift or a benefit? How about matching funds or more for your contributions to a 401K, is that a gift or a benefit. How about for those that get mileage reimbursements when you provide your vehicle, is that a gift or a benefit? Even if you carried beer bottles up from the basement to the bar and they let you come in when you were off duty with no cover charge, gift or benefit?

Disney park workers no matter what department have always looked at the fact that they could get admission to a park and for a large number of people that was the primary reason that they wanted to work there. It certainly wasn't making them rich. Admission to a theme park is not an expense for Disney, it is a lack of income, but is an expense that doesn't exist for most of the people that already work there. For them it is just a reward for dealing with the increasingly butt hole resembling populace.

Instead of calling it a benefit, it might be better to call it part of their compensation.

It's the same thing but I think it better illustrates why as employees who considered this when starting and continuing to work there, these people are upset - especially if it was a benefit that was continued on for those in retirement.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Fair point. So ill remove 1st world problems comment and still make the same point and feel the same way….
People everywhere are losing real benefits. I cant see people having sympathy to those losing full theme park perks but as i said. I know why everyone is in a uproar over it. And yes. Its all political

When did you survey people to learn that they don’t care about other people losing benefits? This thread is about the District so we are discussing the latest news of the District cutting employee benefits.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Instead of calling it a benefit, it might be better to call it part of their compensation.

It's the same thing but I think it better illustrates why as employees who considered this when starting and continuing to work there, these people are upset - especially if it was a benefit that was continued on for those in retirement.

Only if everyone in Florida was anxiously wanting to pay income (compensation) tax on whatever additional "perk" they got. Vacation and sick time are taxable but it is an expense that is attached to company "compensating" employees for them not being there and not contributing to the operation during that time. I see a major, major can of worms that if not overturned is going to mean a whole lot of expense to the public, especially of Florida.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm not sure there would be much of an upside to such a move.

The firefighters were publicly anti-Disney. The new board is looking bad for doing this. It would be odd for Disney to provide a benefit that gets the new board off the hook for their decision and rewards a group that took sides with their aggressor.

This is a win for Disney and there's no backlash because blame is rightfully falling on the board.

I don't agree.

The firefighters were not Anti-Disney... they were in a fight with their boss.

You didn't see Firefighters tearing up APs, burning Mickey effigies, etc They were fighting over employment topics. Their weakness was chasing the carrot vs facing where it was leading them.

 

[Nevermore525]

People everywhere are losing real benefits. I cant see people having sympathy to those losing full theme park perks but as i said. I know why everyone is in a uproar over it. And yes. Its all political

It’s still a real benefit to those employees as luxury related as it is.

If the district no longer wanted to participate in the program and just go about that normally, is one thing and something between employer and employee.

It’s the public circus that surrounded it initially by calling it a “scheme” and “funneling” money that made this bigger than it should’ve been and still shows that this current board is more interested in attention seeking to make Disney look bad than acting in the best interest of the district constituents.

 

[flynnibus]

You said “The firefighters were happy to have new leadership of CFTOD because they seemed to be more accepting of some of their demands.” but they threw in their support before that occurred.

well it's not like the Gov picked the RCFD firehouse for his Press Conference without there being some discussion before hand. I think it's obvious the union was swooned as part of the process to make the Gov's plan look like it has grass roots support. I mean, look at the steady talking point still being beat today... 'for the taxpayers' 'for citizens of florida' -- These talking points aren't organic. Just like the union magically lining up in numbers behind the Gov isn't organic either. It's orchestrated and schemed.

 

[Splash4eva]

When did you survey people to learn that they don’t care about other people losing benefits? This thread is about the District so we are discussing the latest news of the District cutting employee benefits.

Point i am making is this… benefits sadly are taken away/reduced from plenty of other jobs. Its s*cks dont get me wrong but it is not isolated to this situation which im sure people here and the media would love to highlight for obvious reasons…

 

[Splash4eva]

It’s still a real benefit to those employees as luxury related as it is.

If the district no longer wanted to participate in the program and just go about that normally, is one thing and something between employer and employee.

It’s the public circus that surrounded it initially by calling it a “scheme” and “funneling” money that made this bigger than it should’ve been and still shows that this current board is more interested in attention seeking to make Disney look bad than acting in the best interest of the district constituents.

It is a circus on all fronts something that should have never gotten this far yet here we are now…

 

[hopemax]

No. Im pointing out the fact that benefits are cut from people all the time. Real life saving benefits. Complaining about losing theme park tickets to me is just not a life altering one.

It's a cash equivalent, and at the going rate of tickets it adds up quickly. 2 adult and 2 child Incredipasses are almost $6000. But the Disney Main Entrance Pass also allows for the inclusion of a Grandparent, a kid's friend, a visiting cousin, etc. Disney charges between $184-$247 per 1-day park hopper. So another $1K for every 5ish visits you might bring someone else. When you are making $50K a year a $7000 admission benefit is the equivalent of 14% of your salary, tax free. For a middle class, blue-collar worker being able to make that happen for your family? Don't speak for them and say it's not life altering.

 

[MrPromey]

Only if everyone in Florida was anxiously wanting to pay income (compensation) tax on whatever additional "perk" they got. Vacation and sick time are taxable but it is an expense that is attached to company "compensating" employees for them not being there and not contributing to the operation during that time. I see a major, major can of worms that if not overturned is going to mean a whole lot of expense to the public, especially of Florida, but hey, they elected that clown college, so reap the rewards.

Well, living in Florida I do get charged taxes on certain company benifits. It appears as a line-item on my pay "stubs" each payday along with extra payment from my employer on another line item intended to cover the costs of that and the tax on said extra payment - effectively zeroing it or some such thing so I'm not sure the name changes what it is or how it's treated in a taxable way.

 

[flynnibus]

I think they stepped in to a political battle and are now being dumped on because of it. I don't fault them for trying to get a better deal, even if I disagree with who they sided with to do so.

Remember all those people chanting "Disney should have stayed out of it" -- Well, there you go union... you throw your weight around haphazardly... don't get upset that you bet poorly. I said it 6months ago, and it still rings true. They were brown nosing the new boss because they thought it would benefit them without looking any further than the tip of their nose.

Union leaders are not noobs to politics. There is no naivety here. They made horrible choices with informed people at the helm.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I do feel for the CFTOD employees.

RCID employees had, in a word, awesome, perks related to WDW parks and resorts.

I never realized WDW billed the district about 2 Million a quarter for these perks.

In my mind, WDW "gave" RCID the perks. Silly me.

I remember my family member, (a retired RCID employee) saying every year, "you never know, they could take perks away at any time."

He was right.

 

[mmascari]

GIFT?? When you start a job and your employer

Disney was not and still is not their employer.

Disney park workers no matter what department

RCID/CFTOD employees are not Disney park workers and do not work for any department that is part of Disney.

for a large number of people that was the primary reason that they wanted to work there. It certainly wasn't making them rich.

That it was a better value in their compensation package than other stuff is a reason to be mad about it. It is clearly a reduction in pay. A reduction by CFTOD not by Disney.

If Disney were to directly give this to the CFTOD employees, it would be a gift. It's certainly not compensation or benefits, since none of those people work for Disney. This is the scenario that was being discussed.

The former structure was a RCID employee benefit paid for by RCID not by Disney. A program available to many companies to purchase from Disney. A program that likely cost less when purchased this way than if individuals purchased it. That made it a win-win for RCID and the employees. RCID spent less on the benefit than the value employees gained through the program than RCID would need to spend to give employees enough direct cash to purchase the same value on their own.

Eliminating the benefit, or replacing it with something of less value is a compensation reduction. It should be viewed as a compensation reduction by employees and they can react however they want based on that information. If the difference in value is substantial to an employee they'll react one way, if it's minimal, they're react a different way.


There's no way for Disney to make this up and return the employees back to the higher compensation level, since they are not employees of Disney. There's all kinds of reasons Disney couldn't make direct payments to government employees.

 

[Asilgrass1]

This site is clearly on the campaign trail against RDS- their prerogative, but I come to this site to see news about the happiest place on earth. If I want political mud slinging (and I’m a very political person) I’ll stick with X. I guess I need to give in and delete this because this is NOT Disney news