A few days ago members of the Unite HERE Local 11 were reportedly seen handing out flyers near Disneyland. Normally this would be an acceptable behavior for a union that is in a three year dispute with the theme park and resort over benefits, working conditions, and wages for its members. But this time they may have gone a step too far.
These handouts are not in the form of warnings about Disney’s anti-union practices, but rather warning parents about how Disneyland is a magnet for “Pedophiles”. Here’s the full text and you can decide for yourself if this is appropriate:
Keep your Children Close
Places like Disneyland Are Magnets For “Pedophiles”“Pedophiles” are people with sexual interest in children.
The Anaheim Police were called to Disneyland 64 times from 2005-2010 to investigate “sex offenses” – 9 of them in the first half of 2010
As of August 20th, there are 266 Registered Sex Offenders in Anaheim, including 23 offenders in the zip code that Disneyland is located in.
(Note there may be additional text, but I’ve only been shown that portion. I’ll update when I get more details (btw, if you have a flyer, I’d appreciate if you send me a photo of the front and back).)
Using misleading statistics to scare tourists is lower than low. It hurts the potential future earnings of the union employees and makes the union look bad for using scare tactics. The headlines suggest that Disneyland is infested with dangerous people, but the Anaheim Police investigations for “sex offenses” cover a whole range of incidents, not inappropriate behavior of an adult to a child, but adult on adult and child on child. There is no statistical relevance to that charge.
The fact that 266 registered sex offenders live in Anaheim is also mostly irrelevant. Conditions of parole for many sex offenders keep them away from schools, playgrounds, and other areas where children are present. There have been only a few stories and police reports, not unusual for an employer of Disneyland’s size, suggesting that they are finding their way to Disneyland or that they’re causing any problems at all.
If this truly was a union action, and it looks like it was, I think Unite Here will have to officially disband now. It just lost all bargaining ability with Disneyland. In fact, I wouldn’t blame Disney at all for even refusing to take phone calls, let alone enter negotiations. You can’t negotiate with someone who uses these obscene scare tactics.
I was previously 100% behind the union for standing up to Disney and demanding better health care and working conditions for their employees. But if this was a union action, I must now withdraw that support.
Thanks to MousePlanet.com for their original reporting on this story.
It’s up to the union members to at least threaten to vote to decertify to get their leaders back to negotiating in good faith.
To be honest, the Union has never played fair, those of us that live here can clearly see that. This tactic does not surprise me in the least.
In addition, Disney provides among the best working conditions and benefits in the area, getting a job at Disney is something that everyone wants here. This has always been about the union getting greedy (beyond greedy), I mean most employers aren’t even offering benefits these days.
Ultimately, I say disband the union, offer a fair wage and benefits to the employees, if they want to stay great, if they want to leave that is fine too, there are 10 qualified people willing to take each of those jobs (10:1) at 80% or less of what they are being paid now, why would Disney want to pay more?
Has Disneyland Union UniteHERE Local 11 gone too far with its latest tactics? http://ow.ly/2W0tH New Flyer unfairly targets the park.
isn’t the union what helped destroy the american car industry?? Why does disney operate union?? is it cheaper?? They only seem like trouble money hungry jerks! Can someone please explain, cause I don’t think disney needs to be infested by money hungry unions. I mean these people should be thankful to even have a job!
union representing Disney employees goes too far in wage negotiations http://bit.ly/9DUgw6
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There are multiple unions within the DLR, and Local 11 (the hotel union) is widely known to be the worst. They deal mainly with the hotels CMs and it’s common knowledge that they abuse the fact that a vast number of their members don’t speak English to bully and scare their own MEMBERS into actions that are uncalled for. This does not surprise me at all from them.
Let’s also remember that this union’s demands are RIDICULOUS. No one working in the park gets what the hotel CMs ALREADY get, and they’re demanding MORE. They are demanding FREE, no co-pay healthcare for themselves AND everyone in their household. Disney offered them free for themselves and a $10 co-pay for the rest of the household, so they respond with “Disneyland is crawling with pedophiles” flyers? Absurd. I’m almost glad they’ve finally crossed the line so obviously. As a very pro-union CM, I hope this union gets obliterated.
“The Anaheim Police were called to Disneyland 64 times from 2005-2010 to investigate “sex offenses””
Let’s see… how many visits were there to Disneyland in that time frame? 75 million or so? 64 reports of “sex offenses” (probably mostly things like groping or exposure, maybe a date getting too aggressive at the hotel) out of 75,000,000 million visits (not counting separate hotel stays) is TINY. If anything, this shows how safe the Resort can be!
“As of August 20th, there are 266 Registered Sex Offenders in Anaheim, including 23 offenders in the zip code that Disneyland is located in.”
Anaheim is a HUGE city. 23 in Disneyland’s zip code? Notice the phrase used is “sex offender”, not “child molester”. Now, I’m not here to excuse any sex offender. But is someone REALLY a threat to your child in a crowded place like Disneyland if they were busted during a sting when they asked for a little something extra during a massage?
Shame, shame on this union.
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I am generally very pro-union, but this is ridiculous.
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