GL Employees Quiting Left and Right

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Zero-G said:
X-Flight, team members last year were getting royaly screwed. Definetly not paid well in my opinion.

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TLs and ATLs at CP don't make much more than your first year red tag either. In fact, it's pretty laughable the extra amount you get in exchange for all the extra responsibility and accountability. I can assure you that I'm not in in for the money, but rather because I love CP and I feel I can do an awesome job at it.

The only problem that I see with them cutting wages to CP levels at GL is that they don't offer housing and their employees are commuting from their homes. I think that should be worth something even if it is 10 cents an hour to cover the gas! :)

I'm not sure what this will add to the discussion, but I just want to share that when I got my first job, at a video store, I made $3.25 an hour. Yes, $3.25. Plus two free rentals a night, which is how they got around the minimum-wage laws. After six months, I got a raise to $3.75. This is not in the 1950s, this is 1993.

Also, when I started my current job (my career) after college in 1998, I made $7.25. Since then, I have worked up to a respectable salary. But I guess what I'm trying to say is, even at $5 less an hour, GL employees really have nothing to whine about. I guarantee you that being the only person at a busy video store on a Saturday night is harder than checking lapbars.

Well I worked a Carowinds in the late 80's and pay was a dime above minimum wage($3.45). The work does require more that not being stupid and having a friendly disposition although both those qualities help. They offered an end of year bonus of a quarter an hour worked.

Forget the 4th of July work on Baptist day when there are so many people there you cant see the ground to sweep it.

Jeff if you do get a summer job at a park be sure to get you a heavy dose of scrubbing garbage can liners,changing trash bags, cleaning bathrooms and "protien spills". Since your old and married you won't even be able to take advantage of one of the perks of the job, groupies.

After your 20's, those are stalkers, not groupies. Besides, I'm going to talk Stephanie into doing it with me. *** Edited 4/26/2004 4:46:48 PM UTC by Jeff***

Thank You,

Thank you for making a public forum to talk about how much money people make. Thank you for sitting in your chairs at home and not even working at an amusement park. Thank you for telling everyone via the internet how they should run their business. Thank you for slamming and overgeneralizing all employees at an establishment when you didn't see the 70 hour work weeks, turn-around shifts, all done with a smile because "some" employees like their job.

I am sick of this site slamming people that work hard and love the business. There are idiots that worked at Six Flags, but many loved what they did and did it well. We are all happy that GL will now get the TLC it deserves. I will be the first to admit that SF ran that park into the the ground, (its why I left), but during that time there were countless people who busted their butt because they loved coming to work everyday. You folks that are celebrating dismissals, pay cuts, and people quitting are a waste of life. Those seasonal sups did alot, many times with nothing. CF has every right to do what they want with pay cuts, (they are not doing it to save budget), but don't celebrate it as some form of long deserved justice.

Jeff don't bother I"ll reply for you

"I didn't see those people that liked thier job, so I don't think there were any of them. Cedar Fair will deliver us from evil and make all the word a better place to live. We must follow brother Kinzel to the promise land and rid the world of all Six Flags parks."

Humor-hopefully you'll get it and I won't be booted.

Whoa Commish...you are out of line. I have worked at amusement parks and I know exactly what those employees did. In fact, I once did it myself.

And, I worked WAY more than 70 hours in a week. I worked over 100 hours in a week more than once.

I don't think anyone is celebrating firings, pay cuts and resignations. But, the fact remains that the park wasn't run well and if it had there would never have been this sale.

Were there problems at the top? Absoultely. But, I think the problems were likely at all levels of management including seasonals.

Based on the comments made by someone who worked at Darien Lake it sounds like the wage levels were pretty out of whack at GL and Cedar Fair not only had the right...but the responsibility...to make drastic changes.

Again someone who gets what these "overpaid" seasonals put up with. Yes, some got overpaid, and some underpaid(i wont even start on the pay by age thing from last season). Some who got paycuts were well deserved, however some that got pay cuts should have gotten a pay raise with what they do. Under SF management we were forced to improvise and make the best of nothing. People did the best they could and excelled with no support from corporate. When something went wrong we got the blame, when something went right corporate took the credit with out ever mentioning they cut budget year after year making us run rides under SOP staffing. I think many of you would give more praise if you actually knew what went on behind closed doors and what full time and seasonal managment delt with. I feel sorry for those who worked their butts off for a company that didnt care about them just cash and sold out when down. The people who I am referring to read this site and know who they are. Good luck in the future guys! This year we have the money and corporate support to change things around. I hope you guys see that. With a little support from management, a budget to work with, and good morale the same people you all were disgusted with last year will be for the most part the same people at the park this year. The only major difference, a parent company who loves the industry, more then the money(dont get me wrong, in the end money is what keeps us in business).

Jeff, if you are serious word has it GL online application go up on wednesday and we could always use a few more ride ops. See you on the Midway!

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Some who got paycuts were well deserved, however some that got pay cuts should have gotten a pay raise with what they do

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That could probably be said about any amusement park. But what park allows individual seasonal employees to negotiate their hourly rate? Isn't the norm for each position to be fairly consistent across the board?

This is a summer job, not the business world. If you're in charge of a food stand, you're going to make something around $x.xx, with the amount varying depending on length of service, etc. Employees are rewarded with promotions (and ultimately higher wages) rather than with inflated hourly rates.

At Cedar Point, for example, a team leader on Magnum might be outstanding and deserving of a huge pay increase. But the person is not going to make $2/hr more than his/her counterpart at, say, Millennium Force just because he/she puts 150% into the job and the person at Millennium Force is putting in the required 100%. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it all pretty structured?

Maybe that's the problem here. SFWoA didn't have a structure for wages and Cedar Fair is implementing one? Some employees will win, others will lose - but now it's across the board. I don't know - just a guess.

*** Edited 4/26/2004 6:24:46 PM UTC by Gemini***

No Sorry Wahoo, I am not out of line.

I agree with what CF did they had to establish a new system. My problem is with people on this board who critique everything employees do.I agree with CF and am glad they got the park. But this thread, along with another (CF gives the axe I beleive was the title) was celebrating firings, pay cuts, and people quitting. They were plain and simple. That really wasn't directed at you Skipper, it was to the CF snobs who don't understand that many employees are staying with the paycuts. This good ridince attitude is ridiculous, alot of good people are quitting. I also agree seasonal wages should not be up for debate.

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=37337

Sorry here is the other thread.

Well, if the people on this board pay money to go to the parks then they have every right to critique what the employees do or do not do.

I read back through that other forum you linked, Commish, and to be honest I think very few people came off as taking pleasure about the lay-offs. I think most of the posters were compassionate about the situation while realizing that business is business and these types of things happen in business.

I know certain people who are no longer at the park. Some I feel badly for, others I believe it was in the best interest of the park.

Plain and simple if you dont work in the bussness dont comment on somethign you dont know. It is true like many jobs there are always too many people getting paid way to much and still many more that arnt paid enough.

*Warning: May contain useless and completlly off topic content*

However, nation wide you dont work at a Theme park nessicarilly for the money. And if you try to you wont be comign back the next season. However people come back mainly because working ata park is kind of like a big family. I can ashure you anyone on this board can tell you that they came back season after season not for the money, rather it was for other things. Such as the people, freinds and the job itself. Working at a theme park can be and is fun if you let it be. However people need to live and pay bills, and especially now its hard for a Teen to live off $5.25 an hour.

I guess what i am tryign to say is people dontdeserve to get there pay cut 3 or 4 dollars when instead they should really jsut fire those people that they dont want making that money. Trim the fat as they say.

The people who need to live and pay bills shouldn't be going to work in a seasonal position at an amusement park. It is a summer job. Lot's of summer jobs...most of them in fact...pay minimum wage.

So, Bossstl, the park should fire everyone rather than give them a choice of taking a pay cut, or leaving on their own accord? And you're telling those of us who haven't worked in the amusement business that we shouldn't comment on what we don't know about? Makes sense.

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Commish said:
Jeff don't bother I"ll reply for you...

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Settle down there big guy... I don't recall anyone saying that some people didn't work hard. However, I'll stand by my point that this is not a skilled job. If they're paying $7/hr. plus the $1/hr. bonus, that's more than fair for the job. It's a summer, seasonal job. It's not for people raising a family or starting a 401(k). It's a job for high school and college kids who want a butt load of hours to make as much as they can during the summer.

Are you trying to say it's something more than that?

I further agree that the paying public has every right to critique what goes on, because (gasp!) they're the customer. Do you suppose years of declining attendance could have anything to do with crappy service? Seems like a cause-and-effect thing to me.

Time will tell, but I have no doubt that the Cedar Fair culture will make the park right. Not perfect by any means, but certainly push it in the right direction.

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Vater said:
So, Bossstl, the park should fire everyone rather than give them a choice of taking a pay cut, or leaving on their own accord? And you're telling those of us who haven't worked in the amusement business that we shouldn't comment on what we don't know about? Makes sense.

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Sorry about that, I was miss understood. I think all employees should have been revaluated. Those that deserve there pay should have kept and those that didnt should have got what they deserved, via pay cut or fireing.

As far as your second point, Exactly.

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The people who need to live and pay bills shouldn't be going to work in a seasonal position at an amusement park. It is a summer job. Lot's of summer jobs...most of them in fact...pay minimum wage.[/qoute]

Why not? I do pretty well for myself. I lived off of what i earned last summer this past winter. I had New car payments, insurance, cell phone bill, a gf (hey they cost money too), $50 a week in gas, plus spending money. I lived pretty confurtablly off of what i saved last summer. However in fairness when I wanted some extra cash, I did occasionally work at the St. Louis Blues Savvis center.

And I know plenty of peopel that relie on there theme park job to pay for there livign all year long.

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So the money you made didn't pay for your living expenses (lodging, food, etc). That money went toward extras like a girlfriend, cell phone, etc. Your pity made it sound like these people taking pay cuts were going to be on the streets.

There are people who are in the real world who are actually LIVING off of minimum wage jobs. Of course, those people are working two or three minimum wage jobs to get by. Let's keep this all in perspective, shall we?

On the topic of perspective, I believe it was Dawn who first recommended it here on CBuzz, but I'd encourage anyone to read the book:

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
by Barbara Ehrenreich (Author)

I'm having trouble understanding this one. SF pays hourly employees a decent wage and they are criticized for it. CF arbitrarily cuts worker wages and they are praised for it. Am I missing something or is this site populated by NAFTA/GAT supporters who love seeing low wage American workers get the shaft? Maybe its just the opinion that CF can do no wrong and SF can do no right? How about if CF opens an unlicensed abortion mill behind the old Looney Tunes land? Would that be crossing the line, or would it be excused as CF providing a value added public service? Christ people...anytime an entire workforce suffers across the board wage cuts it's a bad thing. It may sometimes be necessary, but it shouldn't be gloated over as it has been here.

Again, (geez), I ask: Who is gloating over it? It is a necessity of doing business. It is particularly necessary at a park where operations were so out of whack that the parent company had to sell it off.

I certainly have NEVER said CF can do no wrong and SF can do no right. Six Flags Magic Mountain is still one of my favorite parks and I loudly criticized Cedar Fair for what I believed was a mishandling of the Read to Succeed program (which they later corrected).

Let me ask you what would be better in your opinion. Across the board wage cuts or closing the park altogether and putting those people out of jobs completely?

The majority of people affected are PART TIME, SEASONAL employees. If they are looking at Geauga Lake as a place to work to make a living then they have bigger problems then their pay going down a few bucks an hour. They are only working half a year and they are receiving no medical benefits, no vacation, etc. These are jobs for kids not unlike every job in the mall that are meant to be exactly what they are: Something to keep them busy until school starts up again.

There is a small, almost miniscule, percentage of these employees who are actually going to make the amusement park business their careers. I don't hear anyone complaining about the movie theater industry, fast food industry, etc. *** Edited 4/26/2004 8:42:17 PM UTC by wahoo skipper***