Tough Pay and Work at CP for 2010?

It seems that there might be some hard times for people wanting to work at CP next year. Can anyone confirm the report at the bottom of this story stating some of the work perks...or lack there of for 2010?

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=125813

-RollerCoasterGod

The quote referenced said:

What they won't tell the applicants is:

1)Theydon't have to pay minimum wage because it is "seasonal work", and withthe money loss in 2009 they will pay below minimum wage. Interviewersare not allowed to talk about wages at the time of interview.

2)Housing costs went up again 2x (if you plan on living there)..another2009 bad season. again housing costs will not be released until April2010.

3) Employees will now have to pay (half rate of general parking) to park.

4)Employees are no longer allowed in the park on days they don't work.there is also a new rule.. "Employees will have 1/2 hour to vacate thepark after their shift, Employees meeting with Friends and Family toenjoy the day at the park (after working the shift) must pay 1/2 thegeneral admission price.

5) Employees now have a 1/2 break on a8 hour shift, All employees must take their breaks in there designatedareas. Employess are not permitted to "wonder" the park during theirbreaks. Employees working longer then 8 hours will be allowed to takean extra 10 minute break with managers approval.

No Health Insurance!
No Bonuses
No Overtime

Thanks to our wonderful State Goverment..Ohio is EMPLOYMENT AT WILL STATE.

Some of that sounds a little far fetched. Paying half the parking fee? Paying half admission fee? Double the housing fees?

Of course, no health insurance, bonuses, and overtime is true. That makes it a crappy job already.

Hyperbole for the most part, although I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight rise in housing passed along (not double, more like a few dollars). Entertainers make pretty good money (at least comparatively at CP). One of my friends was a stage manager and said something like $14-15/hr. for the musicians/singers. The stage managers and tech staff evidently got paid the "normal" park pay for blue tags, which for 2008 was $7.25 or $7.50/hr (ATL and TL respectively).

For now I can only take that with a grain of salt because it is just a reader comment. If a lot of that was true I don't think anyone with half a brain would work there next year. Everyone expects to get bad pay but below minimum wage, paying for parking, no free admission, and double housing charges is close to slave labor.

Once again I don't believe any of it until the park confirms this.

Another thing they won't tell is that after working 60+ hours a week at any park, the last thing you'll want to do is hang out there during what little time you have off.

Agreed with others, it all sounds like hyperbole but it's likely going to be a pretty bad job even if none of that is true. Find better pay and less stress elsewhere unless no one else will hire you.

Why would you want to "wonder" around the park on your break anyway?

I definitely find all that hard to believe and wouldn't give any credit to it. Most likely a disgruntled former employee. Oh, and the park did start offering seasonal health care this past summer. Obviously nothing fancy, but sadly it was on par with what my fortune 500 employer is reducing ours to next year.

CP's ALWAYS been a tough gig. I find it hard to belive that employees would have to pay to get in, espeaclly since the staff cafeteria ia WITHIN the park itself!

Yea... that's a tough one to swallow. One of the "perks" promoted at the job fairs, etc, is that the employees have run of the park during their off time. And then you got your employees cafeteria, access to the beach, all that. I aint buyin it.

Yeah, I wouldn't read into any of that comment at all. That, and these are Live-E jobs anyway, most of which are salary, not hourly.

Good point about the cafeteria, Hopeman. Also good point about Cedar Point being a tough gig. It really is.

I think that a lot of former employees are disgruntled employees. I'll raise my hand to that one.

...But that comment is ridiculous, to say the least.

Are the entertainment jobs actually salary, Jeff (at least the singers/[former]musicians)? I know the techs and such are hourly, but the wording on the audition material/info always sounded more like an hourly position when discussing pay. That would certainly make sense given the high hourly rate the position would naturally demand, but the wording of the material always said "hourly" to me. I never did end up in Live E like I had hoped, so I never really found out.

Hopman said:
CP's ALWAYS been a tough gig. I find it hard to belive that employees would have to pay to get in, espeaclly since the staff cafeteria ia WITHIN the park itself!

Not to mention the wardrobe dept and paychecks.

Wardrobe department = only 2 uniforms out at one time = hassle. If you are running late to get to work because maybe the driver of the overcrowded bus wouldn't allow any more people on it, or their was a line of cars a few miles long trying to get into the parking lot, then you just might have to try to get there on one of your breaks to exchange your dirty uniform for a clean one.

Paychecks = can only be picked up at a specific time during specific days at a specific place within the park, which may or may not be convenient to your work location and/or meal location. There is also an added bonus of sometimes having to wait in an incredibly long line, and risking missing out spending some time nourishing your body for the extreme stress that some of the jobs can put onto it. Oh yeah, and Cedar Point Police glaring at you like you might be planning a robbery.

That's just two complaints I have about the job. I could probably write a book on the subject. Hey, that's a pretty good idea. "The Complete Idiots Guide to Working at Cedar Point". Seriously.

Yeah...Working at Cedar point is a tough gig.

LostKause said:
"The Complete Lightweight's Guide to Working at Any Seasonal Job".

There, fixed that for you. ;)

Carrie M. said:
There, fixed that for you. ;)

Ha!

I love when someone types exactly what I'm thinking and I don't have to be the bad guy.

Thank you, Carrie. :)

Anytime. But we both know we were thinking something harsher. :)

I think stage managers and DJ's (if they even have them anymore) are salary, as well as performers.

LK, when did you work at CP and what dept did you work in?

If you guys want to talk about a rough gig at CP, try what I did in the '05 season: Group Utility. It was probably the dirtiest job in the park. On the upside, we may have been the fittest. Between Father's day (when I started) and the end of the season, I dropped three solid inches off my waist (from a 44 down to a tight 40) and ended up with legs like a draft horse. On the upside, I got to know CP inside and out.

I always find it hard to believe that CP can pay their employees what they do. At least they eliminated the "$1.00/hr bonus that you will only get at contracts end and if you don't make the contract then you don't get your bonus $$" rule. That forced alot of less than happy employees to stay.

Idk how they will beable to charge an employee for park admission on days off since their CP IDs is what gets them in, how will the park admissions people know its their day off?
The statement about charging to park sounds way out of line. That would mean more employees would be taking the buses, and please tell me they're not talking about charging for those too!! They should pay the employees to ride those buses-uck!

And contrary to what some have asked MANY employees (myself included) loved to hang at the park on their day(s) off. Dont forget for alot of them its got nothing to do with the rides, but the friends.

If you bust your a** you can make good $ working at CP. It just sucks that it seems like they take advantage of the kids and if any of these rumors are true looks like they are even taking that a bit farther.

With the economy grim and unemployment still on the rise (hit me personally) CP will have no problem getting people to work there next season, it would take alot more than what the rumors say to keep them away.

I have to say here too that I worked on Raptor for 4 Halloweekends weekends and LOVED it! Granted I didnt work all season but I still loved it. I get to work at the place I love, on the ride I love with a crew I love-what is better than that? :)

But I never did it for the $. Well maybe this season I did alittle bit. It felt great being given $ I earned instead of unemployment.

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2175 :)

True. It was nice having my car when I worked at CP. It gave a bit more freedom to "escape" on my days off. Yes, some off days I did spend all day in the park or in the waterpark. Yet, many days, I'd go for a drive and unwind.

Plus, sometimes Group U didn't get done until after the last bus left Cedars.

Heck, even the Toledo Zoo was a nice escape. Garanted, I was trading one zoo for another, but still. You gotta cut me some slack, It was my first time that far from NH, and I wanted to explore a bit.

Besides, I managed to make a few extra bucks by shuttleing other employees (thank haven for a minivan) to Meijer, Best Buy, and such.