Workers at a Chinese factory making Disney toys are overworked, underpaid, exposed to dangerous toxins and forced to live in filthy conditions, a labour rights group said in a report Wednesday.
On top of its disappointingly low crowds, a survey conducted by the Disney Cast Members Union among 470 of the 5,000-odd staff found that 63 per cent were unhappy with management, complaining largely of unequal treatment and what they see as unfair work distribution.
More than 80 per cent of respondents said they wanted Hong Kong Disneyland to bring its labour practices in line with those at the Disney park in Florida, where staff can be accompanied by union officials at disciplinary hearings and have access to independent arbitration.
Not recommended for Disney purists or the easily offended, it’ll just get yer hackles up. (Though I’m guessing none of those folks read this blog anyway, now do they?)
And hey, don’t watch this one with the kids either, unless you feel like explaining what fellatio is.
Members of the Service Trades Council approved essentially the same contract during the second vote last night. It lost by a 2% margin the first time around and won by a 6% margin this time. Translation: 47% of voters are still unhappy with the terms of the contract. That means there is likely some acrimony out there as a couple quotes in the Orlando Sentinel reveals.
The Service Trades Council, which represents 21,000 of the 50,000 jobs at Walt Disney World, will vote for a second time on a new contract June 6th. The previous vote was defeated by a 2% margin of just a few hundred votes and I think Disney and the Unions are hoping that a re-vote will swing the other way.
Disneyland was not The Happiest Place on Earth after local officials paved the way to place low-income housing at its gates.The City Council voted 3-2 late Tuesday night for a zoning change that would permit construction of condominiums inside a 2.2-square-mile area that was set aside more than a dozen years ago as a resort district.
The housing proposal includes a 26-acre parcel just a few blocks from Disneyland and across the street from Disney-owned land that could someday be the site of another theme park.
The vote came despite a Disneyland lawsuit and a possible election fight. Supporters said affordable housing was desperately needed for workers in the city’s massive tourism industry who share cramped quarters or commute hours because they cannot afford Orange County housing prices.
This might be bad news for Disneyland management, but given the wages of most Disneyland Cast Members, it’s good news for them.
The job description is simple: Make the customers believe that Disneyland is “a magic kingdom where life is a fairy tale and dreams really do come true.”
But at the end of the workday, many of the people who work at the “Happiest Place on Earth” sleep on air mattresses, in by-the-week motel rooms and in apartments shared with other families.
“I’ve been at this motel since 1997,” said Derrick, a Disney security guard who pays $209 a week rent. He spoke to me Thursday night while standing in the doorway of the room he shares with two elderly aunts at Arena Inn and Suites in Anaheim, about a mile from his job.
The article interviews other Disneyland CMs and others in Anaheim tourism jobs, talking about their outrageous commutes and living situations, based on the low wages and high cost of housing in Anaheim.
I’m too big of a Disney fan to ever stop going to the parks. But I sure would enjoy the parks more if I felt the CMs were paid well-enough to live in decent housing, and if Disney would support affordable housing in the area.
[Vivian] Yau [spokeswoman of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, a Hong Kong-based labor group] said Huangxing once employed more than 1,000 workers and used to make merchandise like key chains for the Walt Disney Co.
The Post quoted an unidentified worker who said that about 80 percent of the factory’s goods were once made for Disney. But Disney canceled all orders after the factory was accused of exploiting workers, the paper quoted the employee as saying.
Grier also is involved in planning for a possible third Anaheim park. First talked about in 2000, Disney wants a “third gate” on a 75-acre parcel near Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue. The land has been used for little more than employee parking since the 2001 tourism downturn.
Now that things are humming again—if not booming—the company is thinking about expansion. “What’s important for us is to focus on what’s (going to be there) for the next 50 years,” he said. Coming from Tokyo, where Grier was part of the masterplanning team, he has a grip on how the process works. There’s no firm plan for the Anaheim land yet, he said, despite rumors of a Wide World of Sports-type complex. “We probably have more ideas than we have room for,” Grier said.
Grier also talks about the importance of understanding the Cast Member point of view, having apparently spent a little time recently with third-shift workers — hooray for that! But of course he’s maintaining Disney’s stand against affordable housing in the area, which very well might benefit those same CMs that he needs to listen to.
Please note: This blog is rated PG-13, for occasional mild sexual content, coarse language, and otherwise adult concepts and situations.
And of course, the opinions expressed here are strictly my own, and not necessarily that of any other organizations I'm affiliated with, Disney-fandom-related or otherwise.
