My brother worked at Disneyland for awhile. He loved it. All of his coworkers loved working there, too. They spent all their time either working or hanging around in the park. When they weren't there, they were talking about it and watching Disney movies. It wasn't a job; it was a cult.

Back then, a job at Disney was pretty good. The pay was decent. They had benefits. And as long as you were pretty (or could fit inside a giant character mask) and perky, they'd let you mingle with the customers.

But now they want to treat their workers like dirt. Disney is stripping it's hotel workers (housekeeping, dishwashers, bellhops, and cooks) down to size. Apparently, Disney thinks that the work they do is inferior to the work that other employees do, and they're going to make sure that those inferior workers know it. They're taking away their sick pay. They're taking away their holiday pay. They're taking away their vacations. And worst of all, they're taking away their health insurance (for their employees and their families). And I can't forget to mention those hotel workers already being paid several dollars less per hour than other hotel workers in the area.

Why? Because inferior workers don't deserve to go to the doctor. They don't deserve a day off. And if they get sick... well, that's just to stinking bad. They should have thought of that before they decided to become an inferior worker. And their children certainly don't deserve health care because they might actually survive childhood and grow up to become inferior workers just like their parents. (If those kids have any brains at all, they'll think about running away and getting adopted by parents who aren't inferior workers.) Oh yeah, and we can't forget the biggest reason of all: money!

After all, Disney is struggling to get by. I mean, really, they only made about $1.2 BILLION dollars net profit last quarter. How can we expect any company to run on a mere $1.2 billion of profit for 3 whole months? That's why they have to charge $5 for a $0.25 soda and serve cheap junk food, filled with artificial colors and preservatives, instead of food that won't kill it's customers in the long run. They're doing everything they can just to stay afloat.

Meanwhile, those lazy inferior workers are squandering Disney's profits with cushy perks like sick days and health insurance. It's not like they're really working hard or anything. They just clean stuff and tend to back-breaking labor all day. Any pimple-faced teenager could do that for minimum wage and zero benefits (plus they're full of energy at that age, so they could probably do it faster).

Argh!

I hope this gets more publicity. Disney keeps portraying themselves as a company that wants to help people and bring joy to the world. I'm sure there are lots of employees who have that vision too, but the greedy overlords at the top only care about dollar signs and fat wallets, and they'll even abuse their own employees to put a few extra dollars in their pockets.

Worst part about all of this, is that I had to explain to my kids why Tinkerbell and Cinderella were in handcuffs for protesting with union picketers against the wickedness of a corporate giant instead of living happily ever after. Solidarity my fairytale girls.

Go find out more about this at
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jXGsA6a9caN4qHy8j7npWIv68-GwD92IGR380

Labels: Things that Annoy Me