Disney gives its own union workers the finger by refusing to pay lost wages during the Hurricane Irma disaster in Florida


Disney says, 'Scrooge you!' to its union workers for relief efforts in the wake of
Hurricane Irma hitting Florida last week
Update:

After being thoroughly publicly shamed, the Walt Disney Co. finally caved into public pressure and agreed to pay back wages for its own union workers as part of Hurricane Irma disaster relief efforts.

So it appears that even Mickey Mouse has learned a lesson that unionized Disney cast members deserve to be treated with some dignity and respect as human beings in a time of humanitarian crisis.

"Ten minutes ago, a representative of Disney called the heads of each union to report that they had decided to pay all cast members for their lost shifts," said Eric Clinton, president of Unite Here Local 362, to a relieved crowd in front of a Disney entrance. "It clearly shows that Disney and the unions can work together to resolve difficult issues in the workplace."


But one has to wonder why it even had to come to this kind of toxic PR to get the House of Mouse, kicking and screaming, to finally do the right thing, instead of trying to exploit a natural disaster to squeeze its own suffering workers in order to get some kind of twisted leverage against the unions in a bitter labor dispute.

It makes you wonder whether the people who run the "Happiest Place on Earth" even have souls, as the whole ugly incident appears to have nullified any previous charitable efforts Disney made to raise money for the hurricane relief efforts.


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Disney crossed the line in trying to exploit the tragedy of a natural disaster to
squeeze its unionized workers in their time of greatest need
It seems Disney is feeling charitable to everyone but its own unionized workers in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma hitting Florida last week.

A coalition of six Disney labor unions representing housekeepers, food workers, entertainment stagehands and other cast members told the Orlando Weekly on Thursday that Walt Disney World is refusing to pay lost wages to thousands of its unionized workers when Disney World closed for two days on Sept. 9th and 10th because of Hurricane Irma.

The union coalition, known as the Services Trades Council Union, said that Disney informed them that it would pay lost wages to thousands of other non-unionized Disney workers, including students in Disney's college program, seasonal employees and clerical employees, but not to unionized cast members.


Thus, Disney is giving the finger to its own unionized workers in light of a natural disaster and is openly declaring war against labor unions in the midst of union contract negotiations which have been ongoing since August.

Disney CEO Bob Iger's political ambitions to run for President in 2020 may be
hurt by how Disney has hurt its own workers over the years
In a blatant PR move to capture headlines, Disney previously announced very publicly that it would donate a total of $3.5 million in aid to those affected by the recent Hurricanes, Harvey and Irma, that devastated the Gulf Coast and Atlantic seaboard in recent weeks; however, when it comes to being charitable to its own employees—especially unionized workers who help contribute to making the Walt Disney Company what it is today—Disney is acting more like Scrooge McDuck.

Nothing says "contempt" more than Disney's latest move in leaving out its own cast members in the cold from much-needed relief efforts to recover from a devastating natural disaster like Hurricane Irma.

Jeremy Haicken, president of Unite Here Local 737, said that many cast members are still displaced from their homes after being evacuated during Hurricane Irma last week. Many still are staying in hotels, waiting for power and other essential services to come back to their neighborhoods and to assess repairs needed to fix damages incurred in their homes.


Disney cast members, who are already being paid very low wages, are probably more in need of their lost wages to help recover from the devastating storm that hit the State of Florida last week than other Floridians. The Walt Disney Company, however, would rather they just suffer just so they can exploit the situation as some kind of twisted leverage in a bitter labor dispute.

Disney is exploiting the hardships of a natural disaster to screw its own workers
For Disney to give money to everyone else but their own unionized employees seems like a slap in the face, especially since cast members are the ones who are mainly helping out in the recovery efforts to repair damages and reestablish business services inside the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

The multi-billion dollar Disney corporation, however, sees this as an opportunity to insult their laborers by leaving them out in the lurch.

"As millions of people now face the daunting challenge of putting their lives and communities back together in the wake of these historic hurricanes, they need our help," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a self-serving statement on behalf of Disney. However, that same compassion apparently does not apply to Disney workers, according to Iger.


The Services Trades Council Unions and Disney have been in talks since August to negotiate a new labor contract. With this latest slap in the face by management, it would appear that labor strikes and protests are not only likely, but inevitable. 

Sources: 

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