5 Disneyland Unions to Vote Again on Pact After 1st Defeat : Labor: Workers said first attempt lost 950 to 700. Three-year contract proposal would cover 3,000 workers.

A federal mediator said Thursday that leaders of five Disneyland unions will put a new contract to another vote next week.

Union members Tuesday rejected the proposed three-year agreement. The unions would not divulge the exact tally, but workers said the vote was not close: 700 in favor and 950, or nearly 60%, against.

Some union members said they are angry about a provision in the contract that would allow the park’s management to assign workers temporarily to less prestigious jobs; others say they are unhappy about the size of the wage increases that the contract offers.

The contract--the previous version expired Tuesday--would cover 3,000 workers, including ticket-takers, ride operators, food servers, janitors and gift-shop clerks.

Only about half of those workers turned out to vote at local union halls on Tuesday.

Union leaders will try to persuade their members to ratify the new contract as ballots are mailed out on Monday and Tuesday. Barbara Pickett of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service will count the mail ballots on Oct. 2. Another overwhelming rejection of the contract could lead to a strike against the amusement park, which happened in 1979 and again in 1984.

Meanwhile, the employees are working without a contract. At a meeting between the unions and Disney on Thursday, Pickett said, the amusement park said it will not renegotiate the proposal, which was finalized late Monday night.

The new three-year contract would have a smaller average pay increase--Pickett says 9%--than the last one, which raised wages an average of 11%.