Disney World and its largest cast member union have reached a negotiated agreement over the hiring of 170 outside contractors to fill custodial positions that previously were union positions.
For a couple of years, the Service Trades Council has been challenging Disney World’s decisions to outsource jobs, claiming the company was replacing good, full-time jobs with jobs offering inferior pay, benefits and hours, and that quality would suffer. The union intends a rally today at the State Road 535 entrance to Disney World to announce the settlement and declare it a victory for workers.
Disney World official deny that claim and maintain that the outside contractors receive the same training as regular cast members. Of course, it makes it easier for Disney to miss employees who slip through the cracks when they’re contractors. And the contractors lack the attachment to the Disney brand and philosophy when their paycheck comes from someone other than the mouse.
What seems like a good business decision at the outset, "we will save some dough by hiring outside contractors at lower pay" turns out to be a bad decision when standards are lowered and the guest experience is affected. It would have made more sense just to raise the pay scale a bit so Disney could attract new employees on its own.