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The Disney Corporation profits off of children. The young ones take the ticket stub to go to see films like the Oscar nominated Toy Story 3. They are the target demographic for the theme parks. And last of all, children are sold toys based on film and Disneyland characters. It is a corporation chiefly supported by the culture of illusion it sells to youth. The reality, however, is that Disney Resort Hotel workers in Anaheim have been working without a contract agreement for years. They had balanced their wages with health benefits that they would like to maintain for the good of their family (including, of course, their children).
Disney, however, doesn’t want to agree to that and would rather take away health care benefits that their Resort Hotel workers previously enjoyed (amounting to a pay cut that makes such benefits essentially unaffordable ) It’s brazen, but on January 19th, the children whom Disney owes its empire to walked with their parents and threw their Disney Toy Story 3 toys away at the seat of a Mickey Mouse statue in Hollywood. The young ones then took turns and spoke at the podium in front of the historic “El Capitan” Theater.
Not always seamlessly, but with an expected mix of confusion, the culture of illusion slowly gives way to reality. The alternative Disney toy “give away” is heartening, not only on the level of the labor dispute, but also in the bigger picture of the rampant commercialization of childhood.
If only adults could do the same and throw away the useless “things” they base their lives on!
MEANWHILE: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s pay skyrocketed 35% in 2010 from 12 million to 16.3 million. The rationale? “Exceptional performance” during a year otherwise marked by a slow economy.””
Yeah, and this corporation can’t afford to continue hotel workers’ health benefits? Please…
http://www.diszine.com/content/disney-ceos-pay-increases-by-thirty-five-percent
How horrible, a corporation that tries to balance the interests of its shareholders and its employees! Why can’t Disney just be like the government and spend itself into oblivion? You are just a shameless shill for union interests. Walk away from those jobs and watch the thousands stand in line to replace you. That is the way that supply and demand is supposed to work.
Oh please! Maintaining the SAME health care benefits that the workers enjoyed in their previous contract is not some super unachievable feat! (especially when the CEO enjoyed millions in a pay raise last year) Spare me the “government spending” analogy. These are real workers with real families. The Disney corporation and its apologists are the ones without shame.
Now, isn’t there some dog park in MV that you should be barking about? Woof! haha
“Real workers with real families,” as opposed to imaginary people with imaginary families. That tired old line is used to justify a lot of bad decision making.
Crunch the numbers for me then. Why is the same contract they had before the dispute not doable now? Can’t blame the Great Recession. That’s cynical (and non-applicable) opportunism to roll back union rights/gains.
Yes, cynical like when the unions use profits to scream for higher wages and more benefits.
Still haven’t crunched the numbers yet…tell me why it isn’t tenable to retain the same health benefits for these hotel workers (instead of dogmatic drivel)
My “dogmatic drivel?” Pot, kettle – kettle, pot.
Still avoiding, eh!
Think that I answered, but to be perfectly clear, as you said, the economy is down and therefore salaries and benefits should appropriately go down as well.
GW: The economy is not down for many corporations that are turning huge profits (or can afford to give their CEO millions in a pay raise)
Sorry. Try again. Crunch the numbers.
Hell is definitely freezing over. I can’t believe I am concuring with Geoff Willis here, but he’s dead on correct about the tired class warfare rhetoric that has been used to justify bad decision making and demonize people who actually achieve some semblance of financial success.
Who would you consider to be part of an imaginary family? I know the Brady Bunch, the Simpsons and the Griffin family are three that I can think of right off of the bat. Unfortunately, they only exist in the realm of broadcast television.
Speaking of tired class envy rhetoric, here’s another line of yours that I would like some clarification on.
“If only adults could do the same and throw away the useless “things” they base their lives on!”
So what, specifically, would you consider to be useful things to possess? While I choose to lead a fairly simple life, that is MY choice to live in that way. It is also my choice to be with the employer I want to work for. If my employer isn’t giving me the things I want in my current job position (good salary, good benefits et al.), I can do one of three things.
a) Take some classes to acquire some skills in order to make myself marketable to my current employer for a possible promotion and salary increase
b) Find another employer to work for and negotiate my own salary
or
c) start up my own side business
The bottom line is no one is forcing these workers to work for Disney just like no one is forcing me to work for the employer that I am with or stay on the career path that I am on. If they originally consented to the terms with Disney management, why should Disney be made out to be the bad guy?
Or is it easier to show feigned disdain and play the ashes and sackcloth martyr for all to pity?
Well, now we know what kind of “libertarian” you are GF.
Guy, you should read Francisco’s two long comments below. You are siding with the powerful screwing over the powerless, and I don’t think you’d feel good about that if you knew all the facts.
His “Irvineness” is showing.
The funny part is, they have already PAID for the toys
Oh well —
Like the YouTube video description says: “there are plenty of other toys in the toybox, for little ones to play with!”
@ Gabriel:
I made some comments at the OC Register on this issue about 1 year ago.
http://ocresort.ocregister.com/2010/02/08/rage-guitarist-joining-disney-strike-activities/33701/#comment-16557
I copy my comments here:
“As a community volunteer I went and met with the Union representatives to learn more about the issue. I learned the following:
The Disney employees originally accepted LOWER hourly wages than the average prevailing wages to “BUY” indirectly into the so called “free healthcare”. So for the term of their contract their hourly wages were lower to pay for their “free” healthcare.
Then at the expiration of the contract Disney wanted to keep the wages at the lower average but force them to pay directly.
Additionally, Disney wants to change full time employees to part time status so as not to pay many benefits.
Now, the issue that I see is that apparently many of these hotel & restaurant employees are also long term employees of Disney (some for more than 25 years). And as people get older, they start requiring more healthcare. And after the employees have given the prime of their years to Disney, now Disney wants to leave the employees with practically the inability to buy healthcare because of lower wages or part time status.
I volunteer on the boards of several not-for-profits in Orange County (housing; educational; basic needs, veterans) and I see that in effect it appears that because a multi billion company refuses to pay a living wage to loyal long term employees, then these costs would potentially be “TRANFERRED” to society because if these employees can’t afford healthcare they end up using the public resources at the expense of the taxpayers.
Unfortunately, this stance by some Disney representatives is affecting not just the workers directly, and society indirectly, but I suspect also their shareholders.
It seems that Disney’s stance is saving them about $12-15 million in expenses; however, it probably is costing them more:
in LOST GOODWILL, NEGATIVE PRESS, and the NEGATIVE IMPACT TO THEIR BRAND, in addition to facing the THREAT OF SUBSTITUTION because LOST CUSTOMER or FUTURE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS may choose instead to go to Knott’s Berry Farms, Universal Studios, Six Flags, or other theme parks.
And this would also affect Anaheim in particular and Orange County in general because lower attendance means lower economic opportunities in OC.
So Disney has the opportunity to do right for the employees, and to help themselves in the process if they were to take the broader STAKEHOLDER, and long term approach.
Francisco Barragan
Orange County”
@ Gabriel:
I also looked at their numbers a year ago:
And I also made the following comment at the OC Register, which I copy below.
(Note: Because of this simple analysis – people were saying I was a union shill. I actually was never familiar with the word until a year ago, because I have never worked for a union.)
“@ Mhirsch:
At the risk of over simplifying I share the following observation :
1) At the surface it may seem that unions control huge employers; however, I find it hard to imagine that the local union would control a hugely profitable company like Disney. Disney’s worlwide worforce is about 144,000. And I think that their local force may be somewhere around 22,000, and the local Union force is about 2,100. The Hotel & Restaurant employees then would represent about 1.4% of TOTAL workforce, and about 10% of LOCAL force.
2) To follow your analogy further about whether you should have to pay 100% of your ex-spouses’s Healthcare because she gave you the best years of her life.
Imagine that you had children with your ex-wife. If you had the economic ability and your ex-wife did not, you would be legally required to provide not just child support but also “FAMILY Support” which would include child support and spousal support…now imagine too that you refused to pay any support or were deficient in your payments, and your ex and your children went on public assistance. The county/state could come AFTER YOU to pay for the public assistance received by your ex and kids.
Many of Disney’s workers have families (and are legal residents or US citizens). And yet, although they work, they are NOT able to afford healthcare or other necessities. Now because these Disney workers and their families can NOT afford these expenditures, they may rely on public assistance or the efforts of not-for-profits…
Can the county/state go after Disney? No, I don’t think so.
So an individual can be held accountable but a large corporation (even though they are a recognized legal “person”) can not. So the only true way to hold a hugely profitable company accountable is for them to pay the living/affordable wages. Otherwise, we society at large are picking up the cost.
So even if these or any workers accept the wages offered by Disney, even they wanted to, it is not sufficient to meet their other expenses.
3) I did not say Disney is evil.
And although their stock dropped down $2.50 as you mentioned…by and large the stock price alone does not represent the overall health of the company or the larger economy.
please see Disney’s Annual Report at:
http://amedia.disney.go.com/investorrelations/annual_reports/WDC-10kwrap-2009.pdf
Disney has increased their Dividends per share to their shareholders as follows for the last three years see page 36 – selected financial data:
http://amedia.disney.go.com/investorrelations/annual_reports/WDC-10kwrap-2009.pdf
2006: .27
2007: .31
2008: .35
2009: .35
So Disney has INCREASED Dividends to shareholders from 2006 to 2009 by almost 23%.
Also Disney is a $36 Billion in Revenues; and $3.3 Billion in Net Income company. So if Disney were to let their workers keep their healthcare which they PAY INTO by their LOWER hourly wages…these estimated $12,000,000 of savings to Disney, represent less than 1% or 3/10′s of 1% to be more exact of $3.3 Billion of profit; or a lot less if you consider $12 million from $36 billion in revenues.
Perhaps the shareholders instead of taking 23% in dividends, they could have taken either slightly less; or possibly more (if you include the SAVINGS that Disney would have generated from DOING THE RIGHT THING for their employers, and NOT incurring negative costs: such as negative media; disruptions to operations; Management distracted from the business; impacts to the Brand, or lost customers.”
comment on February 8th, 12:55 PM by Francisco Barragan
I love the mother telling the child what to say, I can just image the little kid does not understand why she has to give back her donald duck…. What a idiot that mother is, really, sorry you are complete idiot!
Using kids as propaganda is ridiculous!
No one asked you to work at Disney, you should be glad you have a job!
Disney is not responsible to take care of you, it is only responsible for giving you a job! If Disney has to cut cost’s because of decreased income, then you are the first to get axed.
Disney jobs were never meant to be life time jobs, but jobs for college students and teen’s. The fact that Disney made the mistake of hiring illegal immigrants and procrastinators is Disney’s fault though and this is what they are going to have to put up with!
Quite frankly Disney deserves what it get’s!
Michelle,
are you saying, “let them eat cake?”
I am saying: It used to be bell boy and now it is bell man, because this country has taken in too many poor, uneducated people that have continued the poor and uneducated trend. That is why over half of all young people in this country do not have a job’s; the jobs are now done by low wage adult workers, who then need public assistance to help pay for the up keep of their children.
The jobs that most people won’t do use to be jobs that kids did!
Eat cake is a little vague!
“Guy, you should read Francisco’s two long comments below. You are siding with the powerful screwing over the powerless, and I don’t think you’d feel good about that if you knew all the facts.”
MQ says:
The powerless, vulnerable, needy, underserved… Are you powerless, vulnerable, needy, underserved Vern, how about you Gab?
If not, what makes YOU more powerful, served, self reliant?
The powerless are just wasters, the vulnerable are babies and the elderly and the underserved are people who like being lifted and laid!
Shut up Quinn, we’re talking about folks who have worked HARD for DECADES for a multi-billion dollar corporation and are now having their health benefits, which they paid for, yanked away. The multi-billion dollar corporation is in the position of power here, and we stand with the folks who are getting fxxxxxx over. Your hateful mouth should grow some sort of scab that seals it shut.