Disneyland Crafts Workers Agree to Pact

Skilled crafts workers at Disneyland approved a one-year labor agreement Wednesday that will boost wages 3% but extract concessions on retirees’ health care.

Union members approved the contract by a slim margin, revealing a general lack of enthusiasm for the deal. Workers in 12 of the 13 unions in the Disneyland Craft Maintenance Council voted, 271 to 215, in favor of the pact. The remaining union, with about 30 members, had not reported Wednesday night, but those votes will not change the outcome.

Union members rejected a nearly identical contract offer by a 2-to-1 ratio last month, citing concerns about the retiree health-care givebacks and their desire to negotiate supplemental retirement benefits such as a 401(k) plan.

The unions had just come off a five-year contract that had garnered them annual wage increases of 3.5% in the first two years and 4% annually over the last three years.

Members approved the new pact on the second vote because it is only a one-year deal and they have their eyes on the future, said Mike Potts, chairman of the Disneyland Craft Maintenance Council.

“Members were not extremely pleased with the offer,” Potts said. “They’re looking to next year, and they’re expecting better. We’ve still got some serious issues to settle with management.”

Disneyland officials could not be reached for comment.

The contract, which is retroactive to March 1, covers about 700 electricians, plumbers, plasterers, machinists and other skilled laborers at the Anaheim park.

Major terms of the agreement include a 3% across-the-board wage increase and a sweetened pension package that will allow workers to accumulate benefits over 40 years of service, up from the 35 years in previous contracts.

In turn, the Craft Maintenance Council agreed to several concessions regarding retiree health-care benefits.

Although the skilled crafts workers didn’t like the givebacks, the changes now put them on par with about 50,000 other Walt Disney Co. employees who are working under the same terms, according to Potts.

Prior to this contract, retiring union members with at least 20 years of service had been eligible for fully paid, company-sponsored, lifetime medical coverage beginning at age 62. Retirees between age 55 and 62 were able to purchase medical coverage at the company’s group rate.

The new agreement essentially eliminates company-paid medical benefits for retirees between 62 and 65. Health-care changes affecting those workers will not be implemented until Jan. 1, 1998, to give union members considering early retirement a chance to take the health-care benefits available under the old contract.

Early retirees between 55 and 65 are still eligible to purchase medical coverage at the company’s group rate.

Upon reaching age 65, retirees will be eligible to receive company-sponsored medical benefits as a supplement to Medicare. But they will be required to pay the same amount for those benefits as active employees.

Craft union members hired after the contract is signed will not be eligible for any retiree health benefits.