"Tinkerbell" Busted At Disneyland

Demonstrators Dress As Disney Characters In Labor Protest At Amusement Park; 32 Arrested

(AP)  Cinderella, Snow White, Tinkerbell and other fictional fixtures of modern-day childhood were handcuffed, frisked and loaded into police vans Thursday at the culmination of a labor protest that brought a touch of reality to the Happiest Place on Earth.

The arrest of the 32 protesters, many of whom wore costumes representing famous Disney characters, came at the end of an hour-long march to Disneyland's gates from one of three Disney-owned hotels at the center of a labor dispute.

Those who were arrested sat in a circle on a busy intersection outside the park holding hands until they were placed in plastic handcuffs and led to two police vans while hundreds of hotel workers cheered and chanted.

The protesters were arrested on a misdemeanor count of failure to obey a police officer and two traffic infractions, said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim police. They were cited and released, Sgt. Chris Schneider said.

Bewildered tourists in Disney T-shirts and caps, some pushing strollers, filed past the commotion and gawked at the costumed picketers getting hauled away. The protest shut down a major thoroughfare outside Disneyland and California Adventure for nearly an hour.

"It's changing my opinion of Disneyland," said tourist Amanda Kosato, who was visiting from north of Melbourne, Australia. "Taking away entitlements stinks."

The dispute involves about 2,300 maids, bell hops, cooks and dishwashers at three Disney-owned hotels: the Paradise Pier, the Grand Californian and the Disneyland Hotel.

The workers' contract expired in February and their union says Disney's latest proposal makes health care unaffordable for hundreds of employees and creates an unfair two-tier wage system. The union also says Disney wants to create a new category of part-time employees who would receive greatly reduced benefits.

"The other hotels around the area all have health care that is provided by the boss and have been able to get wage increases," said Ada Briceno, president of Unite Here Local 681, which represents the workers.

"At the other hotels in the same classification, for the same work, the workers get paid $2 to $3 an hour more."

Disney spokeswoman Lisa Haines said Disney and the union are in negotiations and nothing has been finalized. She said workers have protested 14 times but sat down to negotiate only 11 times in the past six months.

"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."

Before the arrests, the picketers marched and chanted outside Paradise Pier, holding signs that read, "Disney is unfaithful," and "Mickey, shame on you." They were joined by community activists and religious leaders from local churches.

Luz Vasquez, who works in the bakery at Disneyland Hotel, said she can't afford to lose many of her benefits. She said it's already hard to care for her three grandchildren and aging mother while earning $14.32 an hour.

"Disneyland is being unfair with us because we're fighting for our health care and they're trying to take it away," said Vasquez, 45. "They're trying to cut our hours and take away our seniority."

Co-worker Diane Dominguez, 50, said she was worried about losing health care because of the heavy labor involved in lifting mattresses, moving furniture and making dozens of beds a day. She also said rising prices and the cost of gas were eating into her salary of $11.11 an hour.

"The most important is health care. We need that and they want to take it away," she said.

At the heart of the issue is a free health care plan that has been provided to Disney hotel workers through a trust fund that Disney and other unionized hotels in the area pay into.

Briceno said that in exchange for the free medical plan, union members agreed in previous contracts to a lower wage for hotel workers in the first three years of their employment.

But Disney now wants to eliminate the free health plan for new hires and wants to create a new class of workers who put in less than 30 hours a week, said Briceno. Those part-time workers would receive no sick or vacation pay and not be given holidays, she said.

The company also wants to increase the number of hours full-time employees must work before qualifying for the health plan, she said.

"At the end of the day what it means is that workers are going to be priced out of health care," she said.

Haines said the majority of other employees at Disneyland pay for a share of their health plan, even though the resort shoulders about 75 percent of the overall cost. She said it's important to negotiate a contract that's fair to those other unions, too.

"We do remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement that's both fair and equitable, providing that union leadership is reasonable and realistic in its approach," Haines said.

[hwy71so]

14.32 an HOUR????

Wow, most police officers don''t even start off at that much and they put their LIVES on the line EVERYDAY!!!

Cut them back to minimum wage and tell them to drop it or find another job. Seems like there''s a lot of teens could use the extra cash anyway....

[libsluv2spit]

maids, bell hops, cooks and dishwashers

@ 11 or 14 dollars an hour?? that is pretty *** good for that kind of work..

what were they expectin?? 20 dollars an hour as a bell hop??? and the unions are pushing this?? NOW WHEN YOU GUYS BIT CH ABOUT WORK ARE BEING OUTSOURCED..REMEMBER THIS STORY

[canoemom3]

Sounds like Disney is following Wal Marts lead.

[acarponzo]

In France they strike everyday and some times every hour. For a morning chuckle, check out the realtime online poll at http://www.bop-o-rama.com. It''s bopping fun! I wonder with all this commotion will derail Obama''s plan to announce Mickey Mouse as his VP. OMG, we will just have to wait for that text message! Rumor has it that McCain has his eye on Tinkerbell and her magic wand for VP. "You could change the world with a magic wand." I think with the arrest, her chances are all but over.

[gurusavant]

omg! too funny!!

[larsz-2009]

why don4t disney just import their workforce from china or india. the way they treat them it4s just a slight difference in pay that makes the difference between china and the US.

i find it amazing that you can treat employees this way in the richest world in the US or maybe that4s the key. It4s all about the money.

european comapnies have had healtbenefits for their employees for decades, 4-5 weeks vacation and still able do as well as the american corporations.
the difference is that europeans live a happier and healthier life............

[hypnotoad72]

Look at the shape our economy is in now. A 1,500 dollar car of the 60s is now a 30,000 dollar car. Yep, Unions are a good thing.

Posted by Hwy71So
---------------

And the amount of money a person made in 1960 lasted a hell of a lot longer than the amount of money people make today. If you want to look at numbers, that''s fine. Look at ALL of them. Cherrypicking numbers does nobody any good. At all.

[hypnotoad72]

Please learn this fact -- you are NOT paid according to your needs; rather, you are paid in accordance with your skills, period!
Posted by Germany76

What planet are you communicating from? Your post is a load of hogwash. In the U.S., NBA basketball players earn many times the amount chemical engineers earn. In England, medical professionals are in short supply because they are paid little more than menial laborers. In Russia, a doctor may earn a few dollars more per month than a street sweeper.

Posted by Meg001
---

Right on!!

Also, read this article entitled "The Education Scam" - makes some very good points:

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=6&threadID=179848&start=0

[jbug16]

I work for Disney and I have to contribute to my benefits working for less pay per hour than the cast members in this story. If I can do it so can they. Disney treats their employees better than most companies. We have many other benefits that are not being mentioned, like discounts for the parks, discounts on our meals, and free tickets to enjoy the parks with our family and friends.

[Meg003]

Please learn this fact -- you are NOT paid according to your needs; rather, you are paid in accordance with your skills, period!
Posted by Germany76

What planet are you communicating from? Your post is a load of hogwash. In the U.S., NBA basketball players earn many times the amount chemical engineers earn. In England, medical professionals are in short supply because they are paid little more than menial laborers. In Russia, a doctor may earn a few dollars more per month than a street sweeper.