Aye-aye for Disney from a key union
By Michele Himmelberg, The Orange County Register, Calif.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Apr. 8--After twice rejecting a proposed contract, skilled workers at the Disneyland Resort accepted the company's "best, last and final offer" on Thursday.
Roughly 70 percent of union members approved the contract, said Jim Berkey, a union official involved in the negotiations.
The Craft Maintenance Council, which represents 13 unions and approximately 950 workers, approved a five-year contract that includes wage increases of 3 percent the first three years and 3.5 percent in the last two years.
The deal gives workers one new paid holiday, for Martin Luther King Day, and makes them subject to random drug testing beginning in October.
Workers in the Craft Maintenance Council include electricians, plumbers and maintenance staff who are responsible for the upkeep and safe operation of Disney attractions.
Few changes were made from the original contract offer, but some wording was changed to clarify sensitive issues, said Berkey, a business representative for Local 441 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
For instance, the threshold to be eligible for health benefits rose from 25 hours to 30 hours, but the company said it intends to continue scheduling the maintenance workers 40 hours per week.
"When you finish negotiations, both sides should feel that they could have got a little more," Berkey said. "I think we got to the point where we got the most that was available at this point in time."
A letter from the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service also might have swayed voters. The letter from commissioner Raul Lopez, posted on the Local 441 Web site, called the company's final offer "reasonable and fair" when compared with other contracts in the region.
The Web site had also warned workers that they could be "subject to permanent replacement" if they reject the final company offer.
Some workers complained that the pay raises over five years will not make up for inflation, increased dues and rising health-care premiums.
Berkey said he was glad to get guaranteed raises instead of one-time bonuses, which some other union deals recently provided.
Approval of the Craft Maintenance contract, and the 30-hour threshold for benefits eligibility, also affects Disney's food service workers. Local 50 of UNITE-HERE union approved a three-year deal last fall that agreed to abide by whatever the maintenance union approved on its threshold for benefits eligibility.
That change might affect about 100 of the 3,500 food-service workers, who could lose health benefits, said Local 50 President Sandi Ecklund. The tradeoff was that more workers were able to attain full-time status, she said.
Ecklund said the union is working with Disney to iron out some changes in a new scheduling system.
A Disney security-workers contract will come up for negotiation this spring.
It's important for the Disneyland Resort to settle its union contracts as it gets ready to celebrate Disneyland's 50th anniversary, an event that is expected to draw big crowds and many international visitors this year.
-----
To see more of The Orange County Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ocregister.com.
Copyright (c) 2005, The Orange County Register, Calif.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment