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Friday, February 3, 2023

Fulltime Disney World Workers Overwhelmingly Reject Contract Offer

 by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 3, 2023

 

Fulltime unionized workers at Walt Disney World rejected a contract offer earlier this evening (Friday, February 3). A whopping 96 percent of the union members  casting ballots reportedly rejected the offer.



Disney has been negotiating with the union representing fulltime Walt Disney World workers since August. The previous contract expired in October. However, as noted by the Orlando Sentinel, that previous contract “is extended in the interim” and “prohibits workers from going on strike.”

 

Regarding Disney’s offer, ClickOrlando.com reported the following:

 

“Our strong offer provides more than 30,000 Cast Members a nearly 10% on average raise immediately, as well as retroactive increased pay in their paychecks, and we are disappointed that those increases are now delayed,” Disney spokesperson Andrea Finger wrote.

 

Finger said the contract included the following provisions:

 

• $20 per hour wage for full-time, non-tipped STCU roles during the contract’s term

 

• Wages for full-time, non-tipped cast members will remain at least $5 above Florida’s minimum wage each year

 

• 8 weeks paid child bonding for eligible full-time cast

 

• Nearly 10% average pay increase during the first year

 

• Immediate minimum $20 per hour wage for select roles, including housekeeping, bus drivers and culinary staff

 

• Retroactive pay increase for cast members dating back to October 2022, starting at a minimum of $700 for cast members working 40 hours per week

 

Meanwhile, CNN reported, “Union negotiators are demanding an immediate $3 an hour raise, which would be about a 20% pay hike for the 75% of workers now earning $15 an hour… Those working under this contract, all of them full-time employees, represent more than 40% of all workers at Disney World. Currently, the park has 75,000 cast members, as the company refers to its employees, including full-time and part-time, hourly and salaried staff. It is comparable to Disney World’s pre-pandemic employment levels.” Union officials have emphasized the rise in inflation and housing costs as reasons for seeking larger compensation increases.rise in inflation and housing costs as reasons for seeking larger compensation increases.

 

The Service Trades Council Union and Disney will be returning to the bargaining table, but a date has not been set yet.

 

__________

 

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, and the Alliance of Saint Michael novels; and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right? 

 

Consider books by Ray Keating…

 

 The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Signed paperbacks at RayKeatingOnline.com or paperbacks, hardcovers and Kindle editions at Amazon.com.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel. Signed paperbacks and/or paperbacks, hardcovers and the Kindle edition at Amazon

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. The latest in the series is Persecution: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel. Get the signed books here, or paperbacks and Kindle editions right here.

 

• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.

 

• Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  –  signed books  or at  Amazon.

 

•  Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know is available at  Amazon  in paperback or for the Kindle edition, and signed books at  www.raykeatingonline.com

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of DisneyFree Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

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