Walt Disney World's largest union rejects tentative contract

Source: Associated Press

Saturday, May 19, 2007
Story last updated at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 19, 2007

Walt Disney World's largest union rejects tentative contract


The Associated Press


ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney World's largest employee union members have rejected a tentative labor contract.

More than 52 percent of the Service Trades Council voters rejected the proposed contract, which carries pay raises of at least 4 percent for the majority. Friday's vote was 2,870-2,583.

Supporters say it will improve pension benefits and could help solve scheduling problems.

The council represents 21,000 of Disney World's 60,000 employees, from food service to merchandise personnel, lifeguards, vacation planners, stage technicians and janitors.

Read more: http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/051907/D8P7P53G0.shtml

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My wife Marta and I won a national Disney trivia contest 30 + years ago. Disney is not the company Walt started. Like Sam and Wal-mart.

:)

Studio, not parks - but everything Disney is a facade. Their Holy Grail is the bottom line.

:hug:

My heart goes out to you. My heart also goes out to those that are still dependent on them for an income. I had a few friends that worked for the parks. I knew a couple of others that worked for the studios (as creatives). They share your opinion. :(
The pixie dust displayed for the public is a facade.

:hug: back at ya!

There was an upside or two for me. I got to work with the extraordinarily lovely Jim Henson on a project and with Roy Disney on another (he was also quite nice to me). Management, otoh...:puke:

Jim Henson--THE MAN! I've heard over and over how amazing he was, to work with, etc. I'm envious of your experience with him.

I've also heard that Roy is a cool guy. He's worked SO hard to usurp the jerks that took over the legacy. Unfortunately, he (seemed to)work alone. He hasn't been able to do as much as he probably would have liked. :( He was quite vocal about the socal parks, etc.

Thanks for sharing. Nice chatting with you!:hi:

My Roy story. I'd had a vintage Variety (and the prerequisite back-up copy) manufactured with an original Steamboat Willie front page feature to be used on the project. When we wrapped, I gave the backup to Roy. He seemed floored that I would think of him and was like a kid in his enthusiasm. Also he showed up for 'work' all by himself, while Eisner (who I'd known at ABC before he was Dog Almighty) showed up with a full retinue of 'yes men'. :hi:

at least that's what he told one of my co-workers when they commented on a shirt he was wearing. A really humble guy; can't imagine Eisner even caring about a vintage copy of Variety! He remembers people too; I was once out walking with a co-worker in the MGM theme park when Roy called out to us through the crowd "Hey Tom! Jen! How are you guys doing"? He came over with his wife and asked how the film was coming along, if we were being treated well, etc. I was amazed that he remembered our names, given how many of us worked in that department.

Animation. I only met Henson a few times shortly before his death (he was negotiating with Eisner over the muppets in a conference room that was a stone's throw from my desk). Roy I know fairly well. I agree-nice guy. The company really screwed him over in recent years, though-but he's been fighting back! http://www.answers.com/topic/savedisney

I saw Jim in Florida shortly before his death. Those talks were on-going but not promising at the time. I had done the Muppet show for Euro-Disney's opening.

I watched Roy's fight in the papers and was so rooting for him. Lost no sleep when Eisner left.

I loved my work - the studio folks, not so much. All of them have their quirks -(the old Universal?)- but Disney was the only one that ever asked me to do a 2nd season for less than the first. I laughed - they must have taken my mirth for a "No" - I never heard back. :)

I felt terrible for Jim's son and the rest of his family after he passed and they were forced to continue the talks. I remember the first day of that; Jim's son (can't recall his name) came out of the conference room during a lunch break looking totally white faced. He was so young and having to deal with so much all at once. :-(

2nd season for less than the first? Hey, one department I work with has asked me to take a 55% pay cut! My fees have remained unchanged since 1994 but inflation has not, yet they still want me to DROP my fees? Geez. A friend of mine produced the TV show "Alias" for several years for them. She calls them "The Wal-Mart of film studios".

Glad to meet another fellow survivor around here! :hi:

pretty apt!

I'm not entirely sure but think it was Jim's son Brian, who was more into the business side than John -but I could be wrong. His daughter, Lisa(?) was in the legal end over at Warner's and I think she probably participated. Since we were in production on another "extravaganza", I didn't get to NYC for Jim's funeral, but it was a perfect send-off. Somewhere around here, I have the story board book that he signed for me over Margaritas at our wrap :party: party. Autographs were not something I generally did...

At the risk of (further) boring you - I'd come up with the lame brained idea to have some gold fish swimming in the test tubes in the lab scenes. Well, it was a 3-D movie. The lights were humongous and hot! Poor Jim was forever having to 'cut' so we could swap the fish out before they poached. It never seemed to occur to him how much I'd inconvenienced him.

Good to see you, too. You're still there? :hi:

I did see Lisa and John at the talks too, but it seemed like the reins had been handed to Brian.

The goldfish seem like a clever idea to me, but I wouldn't have thought about the lights either! Jim didn't seem like the type to lose his cool over much, though I certainly knew a lot less about him than you did. I remember being utterly shocked by his death. I had said hello to him in the parking lot just a few days prior ( I can still see him in that brown corduroy jacket with the suede elbow patches-in Florida, no less)! It just didn't seem at all possible.

I still freelance for the company. I work with a number of different departments; from designing toys to developing theme park attractions. The only full time position I ever held there was Character Key at Feature. I loved working with most of the artists ( I was Mark Henn and Glen Keane's assistant-don't know if you know either of those guys) but management was far too Machiavellian for me. Glad I work for them only on my terms now!

Are you with another studio these days?

Jim was as real as that jacket. He 'nurse-maided' those goldfish and seemed to relish it.[]
If you worked as character key, does that mean that when I walked a large plush Mickey down a hallway, you took that footage and did the 'magic' that made it 'real'?

I don't think I knew the fellows you mentioned. I did have some limited contact with the imagineers -but I'm not great on names. If a guy mentioned that he thought he knew me and I was stuck for a name, I'd just ask if I'd ever been married to him.

I'm retired for want of a better term. But I loved what I did and the other people who did what they did. It's a breed apart - not better - just wired differently. You know? Living in the 'civilian' world now, I still have problems with those who say "it" can't be done.

P.S. Are those your kitties? They're beautiful.

Sorry guys, just getting caught up in reading this thread.

I can't believe they were forcing the grieving Henson's to continue talks of a "deal."
Is nothing sacred?

55% pay cut?! They should be ashamed. :grr::mad:

Gosh, when I think of all the kids that grew up wanting nothing more than to work with Disney in some way. Every blue moon, when I peek in on any of the fansites on-line, there's always at least one person saying their dream is to work at the park, for animation or Imagineering and asking what they can do to achieve that. :scared:

If they only knew. :(

How are you?

Don't know if you recall our chatting about Disney and your work with them (think it was around the time of their stinky 9/11 movie). :hi: Good to see you!

Did you do any of the artwork for the latest Pirates? The posters are gorgeous!

I'm a big fan of Roy's. I've signed a few petitions on his behalf, and wrote the company when he denounced them. He was quite outspoken regarding the treatment of the CA parks. He's a feisty fellow and I'm so glad he doesn't let the powers that be go unchallenged. He rocks!

Good to see you too!

Thanks for reminding me; I need to make some calls to try to pick up some more promotional work for that film. I designed a few toys for it last year, but that was about it. Even the toys are really time consuming; Captain Jack's outfit is absurd! It must take him an hour or so to get dressed in the morning, there are so many layers to it! He's not a very practical pirate, ;-)

You might find this documentary interesting. My friend Tony West produced it and it's gotten a fairly good reception from everyone except people like Eisner:

http://www.dreamonsillydreamer.com/


:hi:

Thank you for sharing the link, I do appreciate it!

LOL on Capt. Jack Sparrow's outfit. :rofl: My heart goes out to you, Lorien as I saw that doll/action figure and it's quite detailed. I hope you are able to pick up some promotional work from the project. I don't see why not...Disney seems to sink quite a bit into this film. I was stunned by the array of "pirate products" intoduced to the park prior to the second film.

There was a time you only found "pirate items" in the pirate land of the park, which is New Orleans Square. I recall just prior to the release of the second film pirate merchandise was EVERYWHERE! You could find it all over Disneyland--even in areas with no pirates! :crazy:

Pirates is the new "Nightmare before Christmas" for Disneyland, apparently. That was the last thing they mined for all the dollars they could. lol. ;)

If you'd like, feel free to pm me if you get any other promo work. Dh and I will stay on the lookout for any items you work on. Got to support the progressive artists and artisans! :hi:

Didn't mention how much I love the illustrations on the site link you provided.
It IS heartbreaking that a company that once was the groundbreaker for hand drawn animation seems so disparaging of it now. :(

I want to see this documentary. Thanks again for the link! :)

Good to hear - hope this goes out over ALL the wire services.

Stand your ground.

Walt would be turning over in his grave to see what's happened to his company.

He started out as a fairly liberal guy who was fascinated with animation and sought to perfect the process. He wanted his studio to stand for excellence. His crowning achievement in animation was Snow White, but because of the torturous process and time involved to create the perfection he demanded, his full-length animated features were not profitable. His business was always in need of money and the banks wouldn't lend it for the work he wanted to do, so he relied on cartoons and short subjects. He ran a friendly, family-type studio where everyone was rewarded for their hard work and shared in the rewards. However, one disgruntled animator caused the union to become involved, whereupon a strike was called. The spirit of the studio suffered and nothing was ever the same after that. Layoffs occurred, and Walt became dispirited and less interested in the output. Then came WWII, when the studio lost its foreign markets. The studio was commandeered the day after Pearl Harbor, as there was a Lockheed plant nearby. For the duration of the war, the Disney studio produced training films, and eventually, propaganda films.

Things got better in the 50s with the release of "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland," and "Peter Pan," but Disney was forced to produce more live-action movies, as they were cheaper.

Walt became more conservative and remote after the strike, and was still bitter about it when he was called to testify at the HUAC hearings in the late 40s, and even named names of those he suspected of being communists. One was the animator who caused the strike to occur.

Disneyland was a huge success, but by the time Disney World in Orlando was being planned, Walt died of lung cancer. EPCOT (Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow) was planned to be a living, breathing, city with cutting edge infrastructure, housing several thousand people, but Walt's brother Roy scrapped that plan immediately after Walt died.

Walt's body was NOT frozen. He was cremated and interred at Forest Lawn.

Walt never drew any of his characters after 1928 when he created Mickey Mouse, but he never disavowed anyone of the notion that he did. He was extremely creative, though, and was obsessed with his ideas. His brother Roy's job was to find the money to finance Walt's dreams. However, Roy was often at odds with Walt's dreams, and saw his job as to save Walt from himself.

David Koenig, that is. He wrote Mouse Tales which is a behind the scenes look at working at the southern California amusement park from the early days to the time (I think) of the Eisner regime. Really eye-opening stuff. I never looked at Disneyland quite the same way after reading that.

Thanks for mentioning your read of Neal Gabler's book. I'll look into that one, it sounds like an interesting read!

It's funny, in a kind of sad way how so many people are reluctant to see anything related to Disney as anything other than a big, beautiful, magical thing. I've read some scathing comments in the blogosphere regarding anyone that dared to be critical of the Disney empire. I understand having fond feelings for places, times and things to the extent of not always being capable of seeing them as they really are. But people can get quite nasty over Disney. I've seen many defend Walt like they knew the man personally. :crazy:

Actually, I never had much interest in Disney for the reasons you mentioned. I lived in LA for a few years and never felt the urge to go to Disneyland. I happened to pick up the book at the library for lack of anything I considered more interesting, and couldn't put it down. I'll look for the Koenig book.
Walt wasn't exactly the squeaky clean family guy he's portrayed as. He chain-smoked and drank (heavily at times), but once this image was established, he allowed it to perpetuate itself.

post-production for Disney in LA -- he and his colleagues lovingly referred to it as "Mauschwitz" for the low salaries & poor working conditions.

Yep. Often heard on the lot as well. During my association, I was careful not to (publicly) destroy the illusion though because kids are so enchanted with it all - and they are entitled to their joys, imo.

I first read his account of it in a collection of his works a few years ago. Never thought much about it beyond laughing at it at the time, but got to thinking about it again after reading what the "ex employees" are saying in here today.

Ellison says he was fired on his first day at Disney for joking about a porno Disney feature over his lunch hour.

By golly, I checked at Snopes and they say it is a true story!!!

http://www.snopes.com/disney/wdco/ellison.htm


Wow.



Laura

Hadn't heard the story. Maybe not so funny for Ellison that day...but it made me laugh.

I often got surprised faces/comments when I would go 'off property' to purchase production items that were needed -as if it was a form of treason. And once they kicked back a petty cash item for breakfast off a roach coach for a couple of the crew that were working on a Sunday. The next week, I included a note to the accountants - "See if you can find the $xx.xx!" Sometimes the games were fun. Others, not so much.

this work by the late Wally Wood (pioneer member of Mad Magazine, and creator of Marvel Comics Daredevil)



otoh, I have been acquainted with Harlan for decades (friend of friends), and he can be quite the obnoxious
so-and-so.

(Just ask Connie Willis)

so-and-so. I've only had one run in with him and that was enough. But, he is an amazing writer.

Porn at Disney? Well, there was the infamous Snow White wrap party orgie. Then there were the Hustler images in the windows of the UN tower in the original "Rescuers", plus all the kinky images produced by artists at the studios while working on various films. I have a whole book of censored storyboards from "Pocahontas" (a.k.a. "Pokeherhotass"). All that G-ratedness can really get to people after a while.

...brook.

I recall some discussions with life-long, adult Disney fans here on DU, after the propaganda film by ABC last year about 9/11 (ABC owned by Disney, etc.). Some here were really angry and upset about the criticisms pointed at Disney at that time. They refused to see Disney (especially Walt) as anything other than progressive and wonderful. I understand as one that was practically raised on the pixie dust(as a life-long socal resident). But I can enjoy aspects of them, while not drinking the Kool-Aid (so to speak)and still see them for the company that they are. Some are not only unwilling to do that, they just aren't able. That kind of took me by surprise. I expect that sort of enchantment and loyalty from children, but I was blown away to see such (almost) child-like loyalty from adults.

For some Disney is like religion. You just don't speak ill of it. One doesn't dare to question or think anything but goodness and light of the late, great Disney. I can respect admiring the man for his vision and accomplishments, but he was still a human being. He like anyone else was capable of error and imperfections. Too many adults are completely unwilling to consider that. For them, it's easier to villify those that took over the company and make it all their fault, while elevating Walt to saint status.

Don't get me wrong, he did some cool stuff and was quite the visionary. The parks and company WERE very different and took better care of their employees and their consumers under Walt. But, I'm able to also see the ways he wasn't "perfect" while looking at the big picture.

:hi:

that people haven't the ability to see imperfections in their chosen heroes? But then, it's much the same sort of blindness that has given us * and all his recycled Watergate crew. :hi:

"Disney is not the company Walt started."

Actually, Walt was known for being a horrible employer, and union basher. It's not entirely fair, since he ran into some really seedy unions, but he wasn't a nice guy.

the park characters didn't have a union when I was working there. We used a few of them on the projects I did and was appalled that they weren't getting at least SEG minimums. And when I was in Florida, I know none of the locals were union.