Cedar Point Cutting Legacy Pay?

But money does, and the current fatcats are goosestepping along with nazis.

Well, don't even get me started on the nazi squirrels!

Are they as bad as Illinois Nazis?

I hate Illinois Nazis.

TheMillenniumRider:

So, no wonder everything in this country is based on fear. I traveled overseas, and all I heard from people in this country is that you will be pickpocketed, and you will be scammed, and the people are rude, and {insert any other story designed to scare you}. When I got overseas, surprise, none of this was true. But again, a use of fear, same reason why so many people buy guns, and people have home alarms, and carry sprays, and whatever. The people in this country love fear because it makes you buy things and it keeps you complacent.

Off topic, but here’s a cool story. In 2013, I traveled to Germany for a roller coaster trip. On the first day there, I accidentally left my wallet on a trash can at a rest area and drove away. I didn’t realize it was missing until about four hours later, halfway across the country. The wallet didn’t have my passport, but it did have my passport card that I use for trips to Canada. I wrote it off as gone.

Seven weeks later, back home in the States, I got an email from the US Embassy saying they had my wallet. They asked me to verify the contents so they could send it back. Turns out, they got my email address from my passport card information. About a week and a half later, my wallet arrived—with everything still in it, including my 150 euros. A nice German bloke had turned it into the rest area, which passed it along to the Autobahn Police, who then sent it to the US Embassy.

Back on topic: I’ve been a Screamster at Cedar Point for the last seven years. Usually, we start training and prepping around mid-August. This year, though, they didn’t give us that legacy pay until Halloweekends officially started, which meant we worked for a while without it. Back in 2019, when the pay was around $10 an hour, they announced they’d raise it to $15 for the busiest predicted weekend. But then they ended up giving us $15 for all of Halloweekends! If staffing gets bad enough next year, I wouldn’t be surprised if they bring that back—or at least try something similar to keep people around during Halloweekends.

Lord Gonchar:

I, for one, simply hate those fatcat squirrels with more acorns than any creature could ever need causing all of the world's problems.

The red ones with billions of acorns are the worst.

Literally, on our visit to England/France. 😂

I think I live on a different planet than most of you.

Why are you so intent on declaring that everyone else's problems aren't really problems? I mean, weren't you the one arguing for people all having their own "reality?"

If I'm framing it that way, that's not my intent.

Quite the opposite. Your way of seeing things isn't the only correct one. I am arguing that multiple realities exist with this story.

Up until, then it seemed we thought anyone who thought they'd be robbed in a European country was a silly goose.

Ironically, we literally had people try to rob us in Europe. It's not even a friend or an article or a statistic - it was first-hand experience and seemed really relevant to the one-sided conversation.

And which "problem" am I claiming doesn't exist? The problem of the lack of crime in Paris? Dude.

Lord Gonchar:

Up until, then it seemed we thought anyone who thought they'd be robbed in a European country was a silly goose.

Sorry for the double-post aside, but if I had instead written the above as:

"Up until, then it seemed we thought anyone who thought they'd be robbed in a European country was a silly goose(stepper)."

It would have been SO much better.

Going back to the seasonal pay issue. I knew that they weren't going to pay the extra $5 per hour forever, and I'm actually surprised it lasted as long as it did. I agree that this might be enough to keep some returning employees from doing so, but I suspect they've done the calculations and research and have some level of comfort that they will be able to fill positions this upcoming season.

As to the idea mentioned earlier that Cedar Point executives are "holding the bonus over the heads" of the seasonal staff...that was always a rumor. It was NOT true when I was full-time, and I doubt it is true today. By August and September, I was desperate for staff. In fact, I was generally more flexible toward the end of the season. I spent many, many "hell weeks" cleaning rooms, folding towels, driving shuttle busses, etc because staffing was such that it was all hands-on deck. I actually advocated for a stepped-up bonus for those who worked in late August and bonus weekends (it did not come to pass). To cut staff to save on the bonus payout would be akin to cutting off my legs in order to save my arm. Wouldn't make any sense at all.

Yeah, but every year is different. Every year they may have a different amount of staff available. They'll do what the circumstances tell them to do. When they see that they are probably going to have more than enough people, and the staffing budgets are going over, it's possible they find the solution to end some of those contracts early. Other seasons, they might find that they are going to be short staffed, and need to keep as many employees as possible. Cedar Point runs a tight ship. They probably have an exact budget for certain things. They need to do what's necessary to stay with that budget, whether they are short staffed of over staffed.

I could be wrong. Some rumors come from a place of truth. Even if it isn't true, appearances and stuff...

Because my ride closed early in the season, I got to work in a haunt on Fridays and another ride on the weekends. They didn't need me on Fridays, so I was just extra. They did need me on the weekends though. That was a really fun time to work there.

I think you’re being a little harsh with Paris. After all, it was she who kept you from getting squashed by a Dayton tornado.

This is how the "they are holding it over my head" argument would go.

It's the end of August and an employee is contracted to work through Labor Day. The third week of August, an employee asks for the next week off because his/her parents have scheduled a last-minute summer vacation to X. The employee really wants to go and promises they will be back for Labor Day weekend.

Manager says, I'm sorry, but you are contracted to work through Labor Day and these last two weeks are when we most need you, as the college students head back. I can't authorize your vacation and if you take it, you will be terminated. Staff member says, "you are holding this contract over my head".

I won't say that it NEVER happened, but the need for staffing to run rides, cook food, clean hotel rooms, will almost always outweigh the $1000-$3000 extra that a staff member earns on the bonus.

I agree. While I was never employed by CF, the park I worked for, for over two decades, also had an end of season "retention/performance" bonus. In some scenarios, bonus amounts were north of a thousand dollars, so it was real money for some employees. Our average bonus payout was in the $500 range.

The "holding the bonus over your heads" argument was typically made by those who didn't live up to their end of the bargain, and the parameters of our bonus program was clearly defined. It was fully transparent.

I can't recall one instance where a manager docked or targeted an employee in order to "save money" on bonus payouts. It just didn't happen in practice. In fact, in borderline cases, the benefit of doubt almost always erred on the side of the employee. I can recall many cases where the employee received a larger bonus than probably deserved. But trimming bonuses was never a focus point.

That's just it. Line managers don't care about a few hundred bucks of money that isn't theirs to begin with. They're not those kinds of stakeholders.