Nov. 6, 2004 – After months of worker protests, Walt Disney World and union leaders have reached a tentative contract.
Most leaders for the Services Trades Council, a coalition of six unions representing 40 percent of the theme park?s work force, will recommend voting for approval of the three-year contract and against going out on strike.
Under the contract, unionized hotel workers, costumed characters, bus drivers, ticket takers, ride operators and concession workers will pay more toward health insurance costs. Workers earning $11.12 an hour will also get a 20 cent raise in the first year and a series of cash bonuses.
However, the starting minimum wage, currently $6.70 an hour, will only increase ten cents an hour for each year of the three-year contract.
"Neither side was totally pleased with the package," Ed Chambers, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 1625 told the Associated Press. "In my experience, when neither side is really happy, you got the best deal for everybody."
