Disneyland unions to vote on possible stike

Update: The unions voted to authorize the strike this week. Negotiations are continuing.

https://apnews.com/article/...186810dfa5

Good for them. Hope they get what they are looking for.

Unions always vote to authorize a strike. If they didn’t there would be no leverage at the bargaining table. Union officials always make sure the membership realizes that and that a majority yes vote doesn’t guarantee there will be a walkout.

From a bargaining committee member:

We won’t accept less than what we deserve because we know our value to Disney. The theme parks’ profits come from our hard work making a trip to Disneyland a magical experience for guests.

Tough to say what given employees "deserve." And you get into problems when you say companies should pay what they can afford.

Sure it will bring up the "living wage" discussion. But living wage for what circumstances? MIT Living Wage Calculator for Orange County ranges from $19.49/hr for someone living in a household with 2 working adults and no kids to $88.68/hr for someone living in a household with 1 adult and 3 kids. About $180k/year as minimum is crazy.

Expensive areas present big challenges in terms of what people need to earn to live there. May need to pay people more than you otherwise would to have necessary services in the area. And likely pay higher prices to support the higher wages. Though higher wages across the board with increased prices dilutes the benefits of higher wages.

I grew up in a strong union town which several decades later has seen much of its industrial base moved away because they priced themselves out of the market. Bankruptcy legal market largely did the same thing. Be careful what you wish for as they say.

Ultimately, there are some complex problems that require complex solutions. Few issues are caused by one factor only and few will be solved with one simple fix. Tough though when the attention span for so many people is so short.

GoBucks89:

I grew up in a strong union town which several decades later has seen much of its industrial base moved away because they priced themselves out of the market.

Disneyland can’t exactly just move away.

Statement was more with unions in general. Though there are a lot of places that thought their given golden goose would never move away. Not really possible for Disneyland but they don't have to keep expanding. At least not to the horizon. And giving in to whatever the union demands will create problems for others in the area. Other companies can't necessarily afford whatever Disney can afford. And they aren't all as tied to the area as is Disney.

Its interesting in that "pay more because you can afford it" typically only applies to very large companies (and few of those in any event). But "big business" tends to be maligned by many.

Further update: tentative agreement reached.
https://www.nbcnews.com/new...rcna163427

I don't know that I'd characterize anything that Disney was doing was "unfair," but I think the housing insecurity thing is definitely real, and something that they have to respond to whether they want to or not. They've certainly done that in Florida, necessarily (as did Universal) with rent controlled options. I think that this is probably the most responsible way to roll with this. The alternative is a decline in employee quality, I think.