The Walt Disney World Resort and the largest Cast Member union are poised to enter their fourth month of negotiations after making “almost no progress” earlier this month. BlogMickey.com has been tracking negotiations back to late August as the STCU and Disney attempt to solidify a contract for more than 40,000 Cast Members at the Walt Disney World Resort.
A statement from Local 737 paints a bit of a grim picture after Disney World was unable to present a “best offer” to the union for a member vote. The STCU collective, which Local 737 is a part of, is seeking a bump from $15/hr to $18/hr immediately, with yearly increases of $1/hr after that. Disney’s initial offer was $1/hr yearly, but starting at $16/hr instead of $18/hr. Here’s the statement from Local 737:
We made almost no progress in negotiations today. We ended the day by telling the Company that we want to see their best offer so that the members can vote on it. The Company said they were not prepared to do that today and that they will send us a date for our next bargaining meeting. We will let you know as soon as the next meeting is scheduled. We continue to be clear that a $1 raise is not enough! We will fight until we win!
The STCU held a Cast Member protest during the negotiations, but a deal was not reached.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
No wonder my son a long time Disney cast member is dealing with severe stress trying to pay his bills. Orlando is expensive to live in. After 15 years still being paid a little over $12 an hour. He would take all overtime available for all these years. That’s not living. Disney should be ashamed treating their cast members like slaves.
Many people will say that cast members are entry level workers and should not expect more than minimum wage. As a family member of a cast member, I can tell you that is not true. Most full time cast members I have met have college degrees. My child worked in the field that they obtained their degree in for 2 years before deciding to work for Disney as it was a safer environment both physically and mentally. The wages Disney pays a starting employee coupled with full time cast members not usually being scheduled for more than 35 hours per week – usually closer to the 32.5 hours minimum REGULARLY makes it difficult to obtain housing on their own. These are the people who are making MAGIC for the guests but they have to leave their worries about paying bills outside the work. Many of my adult child’s coworkers have a second job to pay the bills or are super stressed about money. These magic makers are unable to do more than exist much less afford vacations such as those that guests to Disney World take with their families. In my professional life, I was not pro-union but now seeing the benefits of organized labor, I hope Disney meets the increased starting wage AS WELL AS determines a way to equitably equalize hours to allow cast members to work 40 hours more consistently. Having 32.5 hours spread across 5 days does not allow cast members to pick up shifts as it puts them “into overtime” situations – entirely UNFAIR to your cast members. Schedule your cast for 4 8 hour days and let them pick up shifts as necessary without having to get the overtime approved (which it typically is not for those picking up shifts) or forcing other employees into mandatory overtime situations.