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Labor Protest at Disneyland Presents Interesting Spectacle For Tourists
By Lily Garza
September 8, 2008
Visitors to Anaheim’s Disneyland park were treated to the entertaining site of seeing such notable characters as Cinderella, Snow White, Tinkerbelle and even Mickey Mouse being arrested and hauled into police vans last week.
The people dressed in costumes were part of a labor protest against Disney that included a total of 32 protesters. They began their hour-long march at the Disney-owned Paradise Pier Hotel and ended at the park’s front gate. Most of the protesters were actually employees of three Disney-owned hotels in the area. The dispute involves the union contract of over 2,300 maids, bell hops, dishwashers and cooks employed by the hotels.
Negotiations continue for a new contract with Disney after the old contract expired in February. Unite Here Local 681, the workers’ union, claims that Disney’s latest proposal would make health care unaffordable for many workers and create an unfair two-tier wage system.
Disney Spokesperson Lisa Haines claims that the company and the union are still in negotiations and that nothing has been finalized. She says that workers have only sat down to discuss the contract 11 times, but have protested 14 times.
"Clearly we're disappointed that Unite Here Local 681 has spent more time protesting," she said. "Publicity stunts are not productive and are extremely disruptive to the resort district."
The main dispute stems from health care negotiations. In the past Disney, along with other area hotels, has provided free health care through a trust fund that the companies pay into. In past contracts, the workers agreed to a lower wage in return for the free health care.
Now, Disney wants to eliminate the free plan for new employees. The corporation also wants to eliminate full-time positions and create more part-time positions of less than 30 hours a week, according to union president, Ava Briceno. These part-time workers would not be eligible for health care, sick days, or vacation pay. The company also wants to increase the number of hours full-time employees must work to qualify for benefits.
Those protesters who were arrested sat in a circle in a busy intersection, holding hands before being placed in plastic handcuffs and forced into two police vans. They were arrested on misdemeanor charges of failure to obey police officers and two traffic violations. They were booked and expected to be released later that afternoon, according to Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim police.
The protest shut down the main entrance to the park for over an hour, creating difficulty and confusion for tourists trying to visit the park.
"It's changing my opinion of Disneyland," said tourist Amanda Kosato, from North of Melbourne, Australia. "Taking away entitlements stinks."
Haines insists that most Disneyland employees, including those who work inside the park, who are covered by different unions, already have to pay for their health care and that Disney is simply trying to negotiate a contract that will be fair to all Disney workers. Negotiations are expected to continue.
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