Update for November 14-21, 2005
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News and Views
Extra shifts
It looks like the labor situation at the Disneyland Resort is slowly coming to a head as various elements, both past and present, combine to create stress between management and workers. Interestingly, Disney is essentially fighting a two-front war as the situations are different with employees at Disneyland park and those at Disney’s California Adventure.
Over at DCA, negotiations have been ongoing between Disney and United Food
& Commercial Workers Local 324, the union that represents many of the
cast members at Disneyland Resort. UCFW had hoped that they would have a contract
to offer for vote on November 4 but instead, negotiations have stalled. At
this point, it looks like the union may just continue with the current contract
until next year when the Disneyland collective bargaining agreement is also
up for negotiation, and therefore gain more leverage. Some cast members received
an e-mail from the union last week warning them to begin saving money so that
they would be in a stronger bargaining position at that time, a clear warning
that a strike is possible.
One of the issues involved in that negotiation is also playing a role in
the other battlefront in Disney’s labor issues. Back when the collective bargaining
agreement was being set up for the thousands of new employees at Disney’s
California Adventure and World of Disney (the Downtown Disney store), one
of the stipulations included a series of administrative hurdles that made
it difficult for Disney management to cross-schedule cast members between
the two parks so that before a Disneyland cast member could be scheduled for
a DCA shift, every other qualified DCA cast member had to first be offered
the shift.
This was originally designed to allow new cast members at DCA to have the
more preferable shifts without having them taken by more senior Disneyland
cast members. Interestingly, the situation has now reversed, with the more
senior DCA cast members wanting to remove or alter these restrictions so that
they could request shifts in Disneyland.
The California letters in front of Disney’s California Adventure have been given a candy cane upgrade for the holidays. Photo by David Michael.
Meanwhile, forces have been conspiring to make for some very unhappy Disneyland
park cast members. Though the problems predate the 50th Anniversary celebration,
the unprecedented attendance at Disneyland park this past summer and continuing
into the off-season has brought the situation to a head because Disney has
been completely unable to bring in new hires in numbers sufficient to fill
shifts—and at the same time has a large pool of employees at DCA who
cannot easily be scheduled into Disneyland shifts.
Faced with shortages, Disney management began scheduling mandatory overtime
and extra shifts earlier this year. Requests for vacation and days off have
been denied, and sometimes canceled even if already approved. This extra work
has been more than some people want (or can handle with outside obligations),
causing cast members to quit in increasing numbers. Since management is still
unable to hire people fast enough, the problems only got worse.
For the first time Disney’s California Adventure has a major Christmas tree of its own. Photo by David Michael.
In an effort to come up with a solution, management began enforcing strict
attendance policies, which, depending on who you ask, are viewed as Draconion
or a simple enforcing of liberal rules already in effect. Either way, it is
a change from what cast members had been experiencing for several years. Here
is how we understand things have been, and how they’ve changed.
The policy under former resort president Cynthia Harriss was that cast members
accumulated points for attendance issues. An absence was worth three points
per “instance,” and being tardy for a shift was 1.5 points per day.
Cast members could call in that they would not be present for four reasons:
“Call Sick,” “Call Transportation,” “Call Personal,”
or “Call Dependent.”
Tinker Bell serves as the top note for DCA’s Christmas tree. Photo by David Michael.
• Call Sick: Sick cast members would get three points for the first
day missed, but could call out an additional four consecutive shifts without
receiving additional points. In other words, if they were out for one day
or five, it was three points. If the cast member was out for more than five
days, they needed to have a doctor’s note before they can return to work.
• Call Transportation: A call out for “transportation,” which
meant they couldn’t get to work, was worth 3 points, and could also be continued
for up to five consecutive days.
When lit at night, DCA’s Christmas tree has a more traditional look than Disneyland’s. Photo by David Michael.
• Call Personal: Cast members calling out for “personal” reasons
did not have to tell Disney why they weren’t coming in, and their manager
could not ask. These were also continuable.
• Call Dependent: Cast members could take a day off to care for a dependent
and they got four of these calls per year. No points were charged for a “Call
Dependent.” Technically, these were only supposed to be used to care
for registered dependents, but the number of days was not based on the number
of registered dependents one had—having seven children got the same number
of dependent days as unmarried, childless cast members.
Disneyland’s Christmas tree is given over to the color gold this year, with a new 50th logo serving as the top piece. Photo by David Michael.
Although disciplinary action was triggered depending on employment status,
the strictest schedule was for Casual Temporary, who were disciplined when
they accumulated nine points in a single month, 18 points in three months,
or 24 points in a year (full-time cast members were at the other end and they
get 12, 24, and 36 points). The discipline was progressive, starting with
a verbal warning, then a written warning, then a one-day suspension before
being terminated.
This policy was further eased because when a cast member did receive a disciplinary
action, they were given a “grace” call before the next step. So,
if a cast member accumulated their ninth point for a month, they would get
a verbal warning. Say that cast member already had six points from the prior
month and the very next time that the cast member called out sick, they would
hit 18 points, indicating a written warning. However, under the old policy,
that written warning would actually not be issued until the subsequent absence,
or at 21 points. In fact, depending on how long it took a manager to administer
a warning, cast members could rack up far more points than necessary to terminate
them.
Some may find the decorations on Disneyland’s tree too monochromatic. Photo by David Michael.
In a change from what most current Disneyland cast members had been used
to with that system, Disneyland’s human resources earlier this year began
a rigid enforcment of the point system, eliminated the “grace calls”
between disciplinary actions, and implemented a program called “Presenteeism,”
which emphasized the importance of making all of your shifts. Many cast members
found themselves immediately on the bubble for termination, and simply quit
when faced with the prospect of it being more than a year before they could
miss a shift off for any reason—while others, without the benefit of
a “grace call,” quickly went over and were terminated. Cast members
also report that leniency on the part their managers was also removed. One
cast member posted to our message board that it used to be that if you could
show you were stuck in traffic, your manager would waive the tardiness points.
Another complained that he was late getting to his station because he stopped
along the way to help some park guests; his manager would no longer waive
those points (or was no longer able to waive them).
The 60-foot Disneyland Christmas tree is quite the sight when lit at night. Photo by David Michael.
This doesn’t combine well with staffing shortages that are forcing Disneyland
to overschedule cast members with long shifts every day of the week, as well
as denying any requests for scheduled time off. There are plenty of stories
of sick cast members unable to schedule doctors appointments, of honeymoons
taken as sick time (if someone has points to lose), and people stuck in traffic
completely beyond their control, desparate because they cannot afford 1.5
points for showing up late.
It is hard for non-employees to feel much sympathy when the math is done
and reveals that even under the current system it is possible to have 39 unscheduled
absences a year without any discipline and more than that without being fired.
Of course, this assumes that the cast members are lazy or are taking advantage
of the system, which most aren’t. A dedicated employee who doesn’t take the
maximum time off for each call out could be fired for missing as few as nine
shifts. And of course, those absences are unpaid (some job classifications
do get set amounts of paid sick and vacation time). Considering that Disneyland
offers pay well below equivalent employment in the area, it could also be
well argued that the lax attendance policies were one of the few perks making
it worth working at Disneyland.
The next phase of Presenteeism that went into effect over this past weekend
are, right or wrong, going to make things worse from the cast member’s perspective.
Calling out for transportation or personal issues will no longer be continuable
(that is, if you are out for three shifts because of car trouble, you would
get marked for nine points instead of three). Additionally, casual regular
and casual temporary (essentially, the part-time cast members) will no longer
get the four dependent days, the element of the current absence policy that
management feels was most abused (apparently a lot of cast members with no
registered dependents had chronically ill parents throughout the year).
This change had many calling for a “sick-out” on Friday and Saturday,
with cast members using the dependent calls that would be going away as of
yesterday. We haven’t yet heard if this had any real impact on staffing levels,
but on a holiday weekend any effect would have been magnified.
For now, though, it seems like the situation will only get worse until one
of two things happen (if not both): First, Disneyland needs to begin paying
competitively, which will allow the hiring of qualified people in sufficient
numbers that overscheduling is no longer required and current cast members
will no longer have to use duplicity to get time off for personal matters.
Instead of improving pay, however, the company has gone on a marketing blitz
with near-constant job fairs and even advertisements on local radio stations.
To get through the holiday season, Disney is offering new and existing cast
members a $100 incentive bonus for making it through the period between Thanksgiving
and New Year’s Day without an attendance discipline (which, depending on how
they fell into the schedule, would still allow for between three and 15 days
out sick).
Second, Disney and the unions need to reach terms that will make it easier to use employees from one area of the resort to ease unexpected demands in another section.
Jam packed
Last Friday, Disneyland did something that usually only happens on New Year’s
Eve and the Fourth of July: It reached capacity. Combine a holiday (Veterans
Day), significant park changes (kickoff of the holiday decorations), and a
major convention (22,000+ cheerleaders), and by early afternoon last Friday
Disneyland closed its gates for several hours. Once enough people had left,
new entries were again allowed. Word is that Disneyland’s attendance last
Friday exceeded estimates for this upcoming New Year’s Eve. A third performance
of Fantasmic was added at 11:30, but as anybody who has been to Disneyland
in crowds like that knows, if you aren’t able to have fun while not doing
much it is probably better to just stay home. Saturday crowds were also very
large, but capacity was not reached.
Drivers arriving at Disneyland last weekend received this notice that Disneyland Park was full. Photo by David Michael.
Though very busy, Disney’s California Adventure did not reach capacity and arriving guests were directed to that park.
Christmas activities
Friday was the official kick-off of the holiday season at Disneyland. The
tree is up, the Christmas decorations are up, Santa is in his new spot along
with some reindeer, “it’s a small world” Holiday is open, and a
new lighting show is done throughout the evening. For those making a holiday
season trip to Disneyland, here is a rundown of some of your options at Disneyland.
Eight real reindeer (and one reindeer Pluto) can now be found in the Big Thunder Ranch area. Photo by David Michael.
Santa’s Reindeer Round Up is completely new this year. For many reasons (most importantly traffic flow on Main Street with three parades a day) Santa has been moved back into this area behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (the Little Patch of Heaven petting zoo during the regular season). In addition to sitting with Santa Claus you can also meet Mrs. Claus, Pluto, Chip and Dale, and Clara Cluck. There are also eight reindeer in the petting zoo and various activities for children (or inclined adults). Santa’s Reindeer Round Up opens every day at 10:00 a.m. Check the daily schedule for closing times.
Santa’s Reindeer Round Up provides activities, a petting zoo, and the chance to mingle with Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and Disney characters. Photo by David Michael.
There is a daily ceremony to turn on the lights of Disneyland’s main Christmas
tree in Town Square. Currently tree lighting ceremony is held everyday at
4:20, but will move back to 5:20 beginning November 28. Disney has sent out
a press release with the following “fun facts” about the tree.
- The Disneyland 50th Anniversary Gold Christmas Tree stands in Town Square on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland from November 11, 2005 to January 2, 2006.
- The tree is 60 feet tall and decorated with 5,000 golden ornaments and 5,000 holiday lights.
- The lights decorating the tree are clear, white and amber accenting and highlighting the tree’s golden luminescence.
- The tree’s gold topper is a symbolic pair of golden Mickey Mouse ears with the numeral “50” in the center, and is accented with genuine, hand-applied 24-karat gold leafing.
- At the base of the tree are giant decorative gift boxes and colorful red poinsettias.
- The tree was harvested from the Mount Shasta region of Northern California, near the city of Redding.
- The tree is a White Fir, which is also known as a Shasta Fir.
- For its journey to the Disneyland Resort the tree was secured horizontally on a flatbed tractor-trailer and transported by a trucking company to southern California.
- The tree arrived at Disneyland on October 17 and soon began an extensive preparation and decorating process that took place in the Resort’s “backstage” area.
- More than 20 Disneyland Resort Cast Members were involved in the process of preparing, decorating and displaying the Disneyland 50th Anniversary Gold Christmas Tree.
- The entire process for this year’s tree, from selection to installation on Main Street, U.S.A., took 560 hours.
- The tree firmly rests in a planter in Town Square and is kept secure from any wind effects by four guy wires that are attached to the tree. Two guy wires are anchored to Main Street buildings and two are anchored into the ground.
- During the decorating process, the tree was placed in a five-foot-deep well containing 50 gallons of water. While in Town Square for its eight-week display, the tree sits in a similar well that is replenished with water every few days.
- The Disneyland tradition of a giant Christmas tree towering over Main Street, U.S.A. began in 1956. Disneyland is the last Disney park in the world to still utilize a real live tree as its holiday centerpiece in Town Square.
- Since its first holiday season in 1955 Disneyland has celebrated this special time of year with Yule time parades, an abundance of festive décor and special entertainment including the annual holiday parade, carolers, holiday foods, seasonal merchandise and the traditional Candlelight Ceremony and Processional.
Santa Claus can be found in the cabin on what was Little Patch of Heaven. Photo by David Michael.
“it’s a small world” Holiday. In addition to the annual overlay
done to the inside of “it’s a small world,” a new element has been
added this year. Using the new projectors that have been installed for the
Remember…Dreams Come True fireworks show, a little ceremony has been created
in the evenings surrounding the chiming of the clock every 15 minutes.
Holiday snow also returns to the park following the Remember…Dreams Come
True fireworks show. You can experience the snow both on Main Street or in
the “it’s a small world” area.
Though it doesn’t begin performances until this Friday (November 18), the
A Christmas Fantasy parade is returning this year to Disneyland with two after-dark
performances at 5:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. The Parade of Dreams will be limited
to a single daytime performance at 3:00 p.m.
Snow has returned to Main Street (and “it’s a small world”) following the fireworks show each night. Photo by David Michael.
Candlelight apologies
Our apologies for not getting the information out about Candlelight Processional dining packages when they finally went on sale last Wednesday. We were caught up in the final preparations for the rollover to the new site the following day and by the time we got to the information the packages were already sold out.
For those wondering, the four participating restaurants are Storytellers
Cafe and Napa Rose at Grand Californian Hotel and Granville’s and Hook’s Pointe
at Disneyland Hotel. Storyteller’s Cafe and Hook’s Pointe require spending
$40 per adult ($15 per child), while the other two restaurants are set at
$60 and $15.
Hope is not lost for those who did not get dining reservations, but you’ll
need to line up at Disneyland before each performance, and people will be
allowed in to sit on an as-available basis.
NFFC trivia challenge and meeting
The Studio chapter of NFFC (link) has made the following announcement:
