Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest.asp?I1=ID&I2=3307" target="_blank"><b>Latest: Dozens of protesting workers arrested outside Disneyland</b></a> MyFoxLA.com has video of a protest by picketing Disneyland Resort workers in which more than 30 were arrested. The arrests followed a march by hundreds of Disney hotel workers. <a href="http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7211351&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1" target="_blank">Click here</a> for the story and video.
Originally Posted By mawnck Notice how cleverly the union timed this demonstration for maximum exposure, making sure to do it well before the national newscasts so there would be some great footage, on a slow news day when there were no Presidential campaigns, Olympics, economic collapses, or Russian invasions of Georgia going on. Oh, wait ....
Originally Posted By Elderp So were they actually Disney employees or professional strikers. They really need to coordinate their protests with those Save VMK guys it would help cut down the attorney fees.
Originally Posted By retlawfan Unions had a place in society when they were fighting for the safety of the employees. Now they seem to exist to line the pockets of the leadership, to fund political campaigns, and to hold companies hostage financially. If the workers are so unhappy working for Disney, why don't they go to one of the other hotels in the area? According to the article, the employees at nearby hotels doing the same work get more per hour. Why don't the striking employees go there? If Disney was to lose too many employees to other companies, they would raise the pay, and offer better benefits. I know that when I needed higher pay, I went out and got a different job. My employer pays partial medical for full time employees, but nothing for part time employees. It is an incentive to be a full time employee. My employer also provides other benefits that other companies do not offer. Employees choose to work where they do because of the whole package, but can leave if they want to. As an employee, if I don't like that I am free to go work somewhere else. What's the problem with that? I heard previously that the "striking" employees didn't even work at these hotels. They were brought in by the Union boss who was trying to make a name for herself(see note above about leadership). Can anyone who is part of the union/hotel staff confirm or deny that?
Originally Posted By bean Yes its true. The union has been bringing in several groups of people from other areas to be the ones doing the protests. at times not one CM was involved. Ttodays activity was planned ahead of time and the union leader set up the whole thing with local police and all the media. The arrest were even planned and people were chosen as to who would be arrested and who would not. The union wanted to make sure that non CM's were arrested and that only volunteers that agreed to join them and to be arrested. Its all basically a publicity stunt planned and timed by the union.
Originally Posted By retlawfan Notice that it was on a Thursday? If they were kept in jail overnight, they would have to go before a judge by Friday, and most likely released. If this had happened on any other day of the week, they could be kept in custody up to 72 hours. Many planned protests such as this happen on Thursdays.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Here's another news story. Pretty ugly. <a href="http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_10209381" target="_blank">http://www.presstelegram.com/n...10209381</a>
Originally Posted By retlawfan Which intersection was this at? Does anyone here know? None of the stories actually mention the specific location.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains I am sorry for these workers - but like my dad a retired Teamster said - This is wrong! It's one thing to protest and picket - but to dress up as the beloved Disney Characters is just beyond wrong. If I was a parent of a small child (my youngest is almost 10) I would be more than a little angry - and not at Disney!! Do these people think acting like that really brings sympathy to them - no they are ruining the magic for children - Disney is not!
Originally Posted By Westsider I feel sorry for these CM's only because some of them really seem to believe whatever the union tells them. They are hard working, honest people, but not neccesarily able to think for themselves. It's really kind of sad that the union leadership plays them like pawns like this. You just want to sit them down and talk some sense into them, and tell them that they alone are responsible for taking care of their families. The CM from the hotel bakery is taking care of three grandchildren and an elderly adult on her 14 dollar an hour job? However that tragedy happened, it's not really Disneyland's fault. And post #2 is spot on. This hotel union is basically a structure set up to feed the ego of their president, Ada Briceno. They are not smart, and they have very little political savvy. The timing and planning behind this big protest is just more proof of that. They really wasted an opportunity here with their bad timing and poor planning.
Originally Posted By Westsider retlawfan, this was on Harbor Blvd. across from IHOP. I saw it on the shuttle as I went home tonight, although the CM shuttles had to detour up around the Howard Johnsons because there were cop cars and protestors blocking Harbor Blvd.
Originally Posted By nemopoppins Unions still have their place. Sure there are no huge advances to be made these days, but every little bit counts. It seems it is still far too easy for those who hold the purse strings to make large profits at the expense of the workers who in many cases could be better compensated. Even lower management types can be exploited when you consider how much some on the executive level make. You don't think there would become larger gaps between profits and worker compensation if not for the unions? The higher pay elsewhere that retlawfan mentions is not to be weighed against Disney pay rates alone; it is also needed in order to balance the natural attraction to work for Disney. And even if retlawfan would just go and work somewhere else, and even if many like him/her go, as apparently proves the Disney turnover, the market is just not correcting itself because of the strength of the pursestrings. Organized, the workers can equal that strength and raise the standard that Disney has been supressing for all workers in that industry in Anaheim. However, it is a shame when a union representing a noble cause uses questionable tactics. Especially in this high profile case they shouldn't alienate the public/consumers.
Originally Posted By retlawfan Disney is a for profit corporation. They are in the business to make money. Their business is to provide the service at a price that the consumer will purchase, while maximizing profits. As crass as it might sound, the employees are tools to provide the service. I still ask, if the employees could make $2-$4 more per hour and have better benefits at a hotel up the street, why don't they? If employees are drawn to Disney because it's Disney, then they CHOOSE to work there for lower pay. Why should Disney have to pay what other companies pay, if they can still get the employees and maximize profits? (I'm talking business here, not morality)
Originally Posted By frailejon >>Why should Disney have to pay what other companies pay, if they can still get the employees and maximize profits? (I'm talking business here, not morality) << Well, when you don't pay competitively, you end up with a high turnover rate. This costs companies a lot of money. You also may not get the highest quality workers. This can hurt a company as well.
Originally Posted By DAR If I wanted to be taken seriously dressing up as a Disney Character would be the last thing I do.
Originally Posted By retlawfan <<Well, when you don't pay competitively, you end up with a high turnover rate. This costs companies a lot of money. >> So the Union is concerned about Disney not making enough money? I don't think so. <<You also may not get the highest quality workers. This can hurt a company as well.>> This I agree. And, as a regular guest, this would concern me very much, as the reason I do stay there as often as I do is because of the high level of guest satisfaction that is part of who Disney is. If the quality drops, I would have to consider staying somewhere else. BUT, it is Disney's business decision to make, not an outside organization.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>it is Disney's business decision to make, not an outside organization.<< If the outside organization is representing the workers, then it is also the organization's business decision to make. I'm very much pro-union in principle. The idea that a single uneducated hotel worker would be able to get a billion dollar corporation to pay them or anyone else a living wage, without the support of a larger organization, is clearly ludicrous. But these clowns suck. It's obnoxious and pointless behavior like this that gives unions a bad name, and loses them public support.
Originally Posted By jdub The workers' employer has hit them close to home, and they are hitting back, close to home. This is a very eye-opening peek behind the curtain: >At the heart of the issue is a free health care plan that has been provided to Disney hotel workers through a trust fund that Disney and other unionized hotels in the area pay into. Briceno said that in exchange for the free medical plan, union members agreed in previous contracts to a lower wage for hotel workers in the first three years of their employment. But Disney now wants to eliminate the free health plan for new hires and wants to create a new class of workers who put in less than 30 hours a week, said Briceno. Those part-time workers would receive no sick or vacation pay and not be given holidays, she said. < <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20080815/ap_tr_ge/travel_brief_disneyland_protest" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_tra..._protest</a> ...and most likely, coverage of the issue would not have reached much of the greater public without these protests by workers, union representatives, and local religious leaders.
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove ^^From the above article: <<"It's changing my opinion of Disneyland," said tourist Amanda Kosato, who was visiting from north of Melbourne, Australia. "Taking away entitlements stinks.">> I wonder if this was an isolated opinion from the spectators or if it was/is shared by many more tourists.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The thing that bugs me most about all of this is that the reporting is so one sided. Clearly there is more to this than workers are good and Disney is bad. Sadly, most of the world will never know the real story.
