Will Disneyland Resort workers strike this summer? They’re about to vote on it
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 9. I’m Carol Cormaci bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events.
What would Uncle Walt think?
Tensions between the Disneyland Resort and the Master Services Council, comprising four major Disney unions, are heating up this week and may come to the boiling point very soon. As was reported in TimesOC by my colleague Gabriel San Román, word went out yesterday that a strike authorization vote has been set for July 19.
Negotiations on behalf of the 14,000 employees began in April for higher wages and other concessions. In related action, on June 10, the Master Services Council filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board because the resort’s workers claimed they were being retaliated against for wearing a small union button while on the job.
The company put out a statement at the time that wearing the button, which depicts a clenched, white-gloved fist suggestive of a militant Mickey Mouse, was in violation of the Disney Look dress code.
San Román reports that one Disneyland worker, Coleen Palmer, wore the button on her shift as a cashier one day and was reprimanded by management for it within the first half hour after clocking in.
“The intimidation is stressful for cast members,” Palmer said of her co-workers. “But on the other hand, we are willing to stand up and say we are worth much more than this when it comes to contract talks.”
The union coalition’s press for higher pay appears to be one of the stumbling blocks driving the strike vote.
Andrea Zinder, president of UFCW Local 324, said, “The company is trying to claim that their pay proposal represents a 40% increase over the term of the contract from 2023. But, in reality, a portion of that was imposed upon them by Anaheim’s living-wage law.”
That current minimum wage Zinder refers to is $19.90 an hour, which is up from the $18 an hour called for under the Master Services Council’s contract that expired for Disneyland workers in June.
“Disney filed an appeal with the California Supreme Court over the wage law, which declined to hear the case in ending a years-long court battle over whether it applied to the company,” San Román reports.
Another apparent impasse between the Disneyland Resort and the union is a matter of seniority.
“The company’s opening proposal was to recognize somebody who has been there for 20 years or more by giving them an extra 25 cents per hour,” said Palmer, the cashier chided for wearing her union button. She’s been there since 1987, she said, and earns $23.64 an hour.
“That [company proposal] is neither generous nor gracious, and it’s certainly not fair,” she said.
Another round of negotiations is set or July 22, three days after the strike vote is taken.
The Disneyland Resort released a statement affirming its “respect and value” for its cast members as talks continue, saying it’s committed to reaching an agreement that “helps us attract new cast, and positions Disneyland Resort for growth and the creation of more jobs.”
MORE NEWS
• President Joe Biden is expected to visit Laguna Beach on July 26 for a campaign fundraiser hosted by Getty oil heiress Anne Earhart and political consultant/activist Janet Keller, with tickets reportedly ranging from $1,000 to $250,000. Biden is continuing his efforts this week to re-solidify the support of Democrats following a shaky debate performance on June 27. Less than two weeks prior to the debate, a campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles raised $28 million for the president’s reelection bid.
• While we can expect to find restrooms in large public parks, tiny urban “pocket parks” or “parklets” don’t typically offer such accommodations because space is at a premium. But the Costa Mesa City Council will soon be considering plans for upgrading two pocket parks, Ketchum-Libolt Park and Shalimar Park, and perhaps those two will be exceptions to the rule. At a recent meeting of the Parks and Community Services Commission, residents asked that restrooms be included in the renovations, and commissioners, on a 5-1 vote, agreed to pass along the plans and endorse the addition of such facilities to the City Council.
• Another mini-park was in the news last week, this one in Santa Ana, where the city marked the completion its new King Street Urban Greening Project, which lies in the Artesia-Pilar neighborhood and brings a concrete bike path, mural art and drought tolerant landscaping to the community. This pocket park also has a hidden benefit that helps with water retention in our semi-arid climate: two bioretention basins that will work to replenish Santa Ana’s groundwater supply. The basins are designed, according to this TimesOC story, to capture 17,000 gallons of water per rainstorm.
• Surf City has been battling with the state over its demands for more housing for years now and on Monday night the conservative majority of the Huntington Beach City Council plowed ahead with plans to put on the November ballot an amendment to the city’s charter that, if approved, would require voters to sign off on any changes an environmental impact report shows for a proposed project that would present “significant and unavoidable” negative impacts to the environment. Calling the amendment “poorly drafted,” the three members of the council minority opted not to attend Monday’s hastily-called special meeting, saying such an amendment could lead the city to incur hefty monthly fines that would affect its financial stability.
PUBLIC SAFETY & COURTS
• A driver behind the wheel of a black 2003 Toyota Camry crashed into two adults and their three children who were out cycling Sunday night, then fled, authorities said. The suspected hit-and-run occurred about 7:30 p.m. near Haster Street and Lampson Avenue in Garden Grove. Ceferino Ascencion Ramos, 29, of Santa Ana was later arrested in connection with the incident. On Tuesday, he was charged with hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury, failing to stop at a hit-and-run accident with injury, and driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, all felonies. He also faces sentencing enhancements for leaving a victim comatose or paralyzed and inflicting great bodily injury.
• A man and a woman in their 70s were found dead Tuesday morning at a San Juan Capistrano mobile home park by sheriff’s deputies responding to a domestic disturbance call. Police opened fire and wounded a possible suspect who was found nearby. The incident unfolded at about 7:30 a.m. in the 32000 block of Alipaz Street.
• An Orange County woman filed a federal lawsuit Monday against a former Anaheim Police Department officer, Carlos Romero, alleging he raped her after seeing her at an In-N-Out Burger in May 2023 and getting her name by running her license plate number. The L.A. Times has the story here.
• Murder charges have been filed against 26-year-old Logan Christopher Kelly, who was arrested in connection with a late-night stabbing incident in Huntington Beach on the Fourth of July that led to the death of Huntington Beach residents William Thomas Collins, 47, and Eric Clayton Hodges, 42, and the injury of three other individuals. Kelley, also of Huntington Beach, has been charged with two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and one count of battery on police or emergency personnel.
• Jurors last Wednesday convicted Samuel Lincoln Woodward of first-degree murder, along with a hate crime allegation, for the Jan. 3, 2018, stabbing death of his former classmate Blaze Bernstein, 19. Woodward’s sentencing has been set for Oct. 25.
• A few O.C. crime briefs culled from City News Service reports:
— A 24-year-old Indiana man was charged Tuesday with killing an 18-year-old man in a sober-living facility on Tyler Place in Irvine on Monday morning. Braxton Tysean Hill was charged with murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. The victim was Jazz Basse Lachance of San Tan Valley, Ariz., who may have been Hill’s roommate at the facility.
— One man was killed and another expected to survive stabbing injuries suffered July 3 in a street fight that was gang-related. The incident took place on West Valencia Avenue in Fullerton.
— Closing arguments are expected to be made today in a Santa Ana courtroom in the trial of Todd Christian Hartman, a former youth minister for Vineyard Church in Anaheim who is charged with eight felony counts related to sexual assaults on four girls as well as one felony count of possession of child pornography.
SPORTS
• We learned last week Laguna Beach professional skateboarder Nyjah Huston will be one of three members of this summer’s Paris Olympic men’s skateboard street team. At the ripe old age of 29, Huston is the oldest member of the 12-skater roster.
• Going into last night’s home game against the Texas Rangers (played after this newsletter’s deadline) the Angels’ record this season stood at 37-53. When the teams met Monday night, Corey Seager had a 457-foot, two-run homer, Nathaniel Lowe had three hits and the Rangers’ offense remained hot in a 9-4 victory over the Angels, the Associated Press reported.
• L.A. Times prep sports columnist Eric Sondheimer recently updated the high school football tranfers tracker that he launched in January to keep tabs on high-performing athletes who are switching schools in the upcoming year. On his list are several O.C. high school gridiron standouts.
LIFE & LEISURE
• Congratulazioni! Out of all the pizzerias in the U.S., two in Orange County were recently given the nod as being among the very best of 2024 by 50 Top Pizza. They are Nardò Italian Restaurant in Huntington Beach, ranked No. 26, and Truly Pizza in Dana Point ranked No. 42, according to this TimesOC story by Sarah Mosqueda.
• “Las Poderosas de Latino Health Access (The Powerful Women of Latino Health Access),” a new public art project created by Santa Ana artist Alicia Rojas to put the spotlight on women considered pandemic heroines, was launched late last month in Santa Ana. “This project is full of tears, from the beginning to the unveiling. It’s been joyful tears. It’s been tears of sharing traumas,” Rojas told TimesOC for this feature story on the artworks.
• Have you ever wondered how Palmer Luckey, the Newport Beach man who co-hosted Donald Trump’s recent fundraiser on Harbor Island made his fortune by the age of 21? Wonder no more. The Times’s Sam Dean studied the millennial billionaire and gives the low-down here.
CALENDAR THIS
• Orange County Museum of Art, 3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa has a new exhibition, “Yves Saint Laurent: Line and Expression.” It features YSL original sketches, photographs, jewelry and haute couture garments ranging from 1963 to 2001. Admission to OCMA is free.
• Jumping from high fashion to stylish cars, Spocom Automotive Show Tour brings its Super Show to the Anaheim Convention Center this Saturday, from 4 to 10 p.m. Nearly 500 vehicles will be in competition for the Spocom Sword. General admission is $40 on Saturday, $35 if purchased online ahead of the event.
• On Sunday, Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Commodores Club and the Balboa Yacht Club will present the Flight of Newport in Newport Harbor, beginning at 1 p.m. The roughly 90-minute race, which begins near the Balboa Pavilion, features entries ranging from ILCA (formerly known as Lasers) and Harbor 20s to Tera RS boats.
Until next Wednesday,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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