Disney, council reach labor pact - Orlando Sentinel, 5/10/07

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A tentative labor agreement announced Wednesday night between Walt Disney World Resort and its largest labor group -- promising some workers pay raises of 4 percent or more -- is being opposed by one union.

The three-year contract with the Service Trades Council includes plans to handle concerns such as wage increases, health care, pensions and scheduling for roughly 21,000 of the resort's 60,000 workers.

"The Service Trades Council has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, which we believe addresses those priorities," said Morty Miller, president of the council and one of the council's member unions, UNITE HERE Local 362, which represents custodial workers, vacation planners and others.

"This agreement not only represents Walt Disney World, but the concerns of the workers as well," Walt Disney World spokeswoman Kim Prunty said.

Backers said the agreement will increase pension benefits, pave the way for labor and management to improve scheduling, and boost wages for a majority of workers by 4 percent to 5 percent per year.

But support is not unanimous. The council represents six groups, which in turn represent workers from stage technicians to makeup artists to bus drivers.