Originally Posted By Westsider Shareholder Meeting. One of the people during the Q&A session asked Mr. Iger about working conditions at Disneyland.
Originally Posted By Westsider "... And the response was..." Mr. Iger gave a brief response that basically said "We believe the benefits all full time Disney employees receive are very generous, and we feel Disneyland Cast Members in particular receive a competitive overall compensation package." The short reply was met with a big applause from the shareholders in the audience. And then the next guy got up and complained to Mr. Iger about the dim lighting around the Matterhorn and how his wife in an electric scooter can't see the cracks in the pavement there. Seriously.
Originally Posted By Westsider You can download the podcast of the entire meeting, including the Q&A session, at the disney corporate website.
Originally Posted By knoxvelour <<And then the next guy got up and complained to Mr. Iger about the dim lighting around the Matterhorn and how his wife in an electric scooter can't see the cracks in the pavement there. Seriously.>> Maybe he should consider getting a headlight for that scooter?
Originally Posted By rader22 I believe from the information that I have the union is being quite unfair. I can't see what is wrong in requiring cast members to work a minimum of 30 hours in a week in order to get their beneifts. I also think that the parks should be under one contract. Look at this past holiday when Disneyland was packed and they didn't have enough employees. If the contracy had been one they could have pulled from DCA to cover. To me I just think the union is screaming over very stpid things. What they should be concentrating on is making Disney raise the pay.
Originally Posted By Actress56 the last thing the union wants is a strike. repeat. the last thing they want is a strike.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I'm not sure that better pay would get Disney better employees. I work at a public university and technical and professional positions here pay considerably less than in the 'real world'. When I hire someone I look for an applicant who is excited about working for the University. Some like the more casual atmosphere. Some like the educational setting. Some like being able to take classes at no cost. But if a person appears to be money motivated, I don't give them another look. Why? Even if I could attract him/her with an initial salary offer (which most times I could not), they would not stay long. They would become disgruntled over relatively low salary increases and leave in a short time. Similarly (I believe), Disney needs to find people who are excited about working for Disney... not just looking for a paycheck. You say they would not be able to find enough people like that? Probably not at first, but you could change that over time. Disney needs to make it HARDER to be employed there. Raise the standards. Show people that it takes a special kind of person to be hired by Disney. Make people proud that they were hired for a job that's not easy to come by. Right now the only branch of the military that is meeting recruitment goals is the Marines. The Few... The Proud... The Marines... actually works. Disney needs to start doing the same.
Originally Posted By Tiggirl The problem I see with that logic is that many people who really would love to work for Disney for the right reasons can't afford to. You can't work at Disney and live on your own (ie not getting money from parents) in the area unless you have a ton of roommates and that's not always an option for people. Even if you go out to where the cost of living is cheaper then you have to battle terrible traffic and high gas prices just to make it to work. I lived in Corona (cheaper out here) when I worked for Disney and I also had to work a 2nd job and so carpooling was not an option. I had to quit Disney because I couldn't aford to work for them. I think this is the case with many people, therefore Disney has a much smaller pool of potential employees to choose from. Thats what I've seen from my experiance anyway. YMMV. ) ~Beth <a href="http://www.mousehub.com" target="_blank">http://www.mousehub.com</a>
Originally Posted By TP2000 >>"I believe from the information that I have the union is being quite unfair. I can't see what is wrong in requiring cast members to work a minimum of 30 hours in a week in order to get their beneifts."<< I agree. This has been brought up in several discussions, but what exactly is unfair about not getting benefits if you are working less than full time? The 30 hour rule, a change from the present 25 hour rule, sounds extremely generous and decadent to most people who work somewhere other than Disneyland. And so I'll ask it again, can anyone explain to me why having to work 30 hours per week during the off season in order to accrue medical benefits is unfair? That sounds very fair to me, but maybe some CM has some mystery reason why that suddenly becomes unfair once they approach Harbor Blvd. or Katella Avenue.
Originally Posted By belle42 As an example: Parade personnel usually only have one performance per day (except weekends). This adds up to less than the 4 hour minimum. Someone in this department working even 7 days a week could theoretically work only 28 hours even though they worked every possible shift for their parade. This is an example where it is not possible to attain the 30 hour minimum proposed through no fault of the employee.
Originally Posted By PirateJohn I believe the other issue is that, currently, if you work the minimum required hours, you automatically get promoted to benefit status. Disney not only wants to up the requirement from 25 to 30 hours, but they want to get rid of the CR-25 or CR-30 status altogether, which means that even if you work 40 hours a week every week, you still don't automatically get benefits if they don't choose to promote you.
Originally Posted By belle42 Before you say anything, I understand parade personnel are not part of this negotiation, I am merely using them as an example where the 30 hour minimum does not work for a particular department.
Originally Posted By imadisneygal The shortest scheduled shift is 4 hours. Even if they department cancels their shift they still receive 4 hours pay. This does not apply if the CM asks to "ER" or go home "early release." Then the CM is paid for their actual work time. If they report for a shift then they are paid for 4 hours even if the department sends them home early. I also wanted to add that, in my opinion, if you're working only 4 hours a day then you are not entitled to full-time benefits. Even though CM's are occasionally scheduled for 6 and 7 days of work they generally have at least one and preferably two days when they do not have to report to work. Working a 20 hour work week performing (or doing anything else, but the example above is parades) doesn't entitle one to benefits. It wouldn't qualify at any other workplace, either. Many CM's hold down second jobs, particularly those CM's who work just a few hours a day.
Originally Posted By danyoung >When I hire someone I look for an applicant who is excited about working for the University...Similarly (I believe), Disney needs to find people who are excited about working for Disney... not just looking for a paycheck.< You have the luxury of being able to be patient and only hire the poeple whom you view to be quality people. Unfortunately from what I understand about the Disneyland personnel situation, this just isn't possible. If you have 5,000 jobs to fill and you have 5,100 people applying, you don't have much room to be very choosy. Disney has even gone so far as to loosen their grooming standards for males in an attempt to attract more of the hispanic population for whom having to shave off the mustache would be unacceptable. They are really scrambling to find enough bodies to fill the positions, much less quality people who love Disney. It's a numbers game, and when you don't have the numbers of people you need, you need to increase the numbers on the paycheck to compensate.
Originally Posted By danyoung And upon rereading the above, I in no way meant to insinuate that the hispanic population by definition was a lower class - just that Disney has had to lower its strict dress code to attract more folks.
Originally Posted By imadisneygal ^^^Some might call it diversifying standards to attract and retain CM's from multiple cultures. But I know what you mean. The standards had to expand to accommodate the available workforce.
Originally Posted By monorailblue ^^^ But there was a time, not so long ago, when the available workforce would gladly meet the standards Disney sought. The very idea that you can work somewhere on your own terms and not your employers is certainly a recent invention! And I heartily second the belief that a four hour day shouldn't earn you a spate of benefits. If you work in a department that only offers 4 hour days, you need to realize that you are not working in a career environment. That is reasonable! It is sensible! Anyone who truly believes that for working 25 hours a week you have earned benefits needs to be slapped upside the head. There are numerous employers who hire people to work 38 hour weeks and forbid them from working 40. Why? Because their employment provides benefits at 40 hours, and that is simply not part of the job. Disneyland benefits are already quite easy to come by--if you put in your time, show up for your shifts, make yourself available to extend or be called in, always meet or exceed the Look guidelines, strive to follow the Disneyland Code of Guest Service . . . . you know, all the things that make great CMs GREAT! If you do all that, you won't be passed over forever. Remember Beverly in the Disney Gallery? Know Oscar at Carnation? Think of these two as the prototypical example. Before the Partners statue was installed, Beverly related to me that she got to go see it and talk with Blaine Gibson. I could tell she was so honored to be a part of that little bit of Disneyland history. Was she ever bothered by management? Probably. Was she ever troubled by changes to procedure, staffing, hiring, or work requirements? Undoubtedly. Did she bring that to work with her? No way. Did she moan and groan to her neighbors? I've no idea, but if she did, you'd never know it from her work. Just do that and two things will magically happen---1, you will be exceptionally happy with your Disneyland work; 2, you will one day make the ranks of the B discount. It might take some effort, it might take some time, but it will happen.
Originally Posted By rader22 I am in total agreement with you blue but now a days that has become impractical. Most but not everyone tend to have the mind set that they should get what they want no matter what and that includes doing very little work and such. I however do not agree with that and have found that when I was able to work if I was willing to go just a step above the standards I got respect, more hours, and such. Unfortunately that isn't the way anymore.
Originally Posted By coaster53 Remember Beverly in the Disney Gallery?Was she ever bothered by management? Probably. Was she ever troubled by changes to procedure, staffing, hiring, or work requirements? Undoubtedly. Did she bring that to work with her? No way. Did she moan and groan to her neighbors? I've no idea, but if she did, you'd never know it from her work. Sadly, Beverly was classier than the company for which she worked. She was reaching retirement age and so was given many late night shifts at the Emporium. The company was hoping she would quit or that they would be able to say that she was not able to work her share of the work load. Very sad that we live in a country where major corporations are allowed to consistently to this to our elderly work force!
