Wednesday, June 20, 2001
by Kevin Yee
Layoffs Begin at Disneyland Resort
Yesterday, 6/19, the ax began falling at the Disneyland Resort. The
Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) didn't get rid of enough folks, so
layoffs became inevitable. They also decided to expand the numbers a bit
to address current business conditions.
Layoffs are expected to continue today, and then on Thursday Disneyland
Resort President Cynthia Harriss will be giving a parkwide "love
speech" to try and boost morale in the aftermath.
Prior to the layoffs, which seemed to be centered around clerical staff,
many middle managers, and in particular longer term employees (which also
involved walkouts by Security personnel), Harriss sent out this email:
As you know, the Disneyland¨ Resort has joined with all business units of The Walt Disney Company to reduce our worldwide workforce. This was an extraordinarily difficult, but necessary decision, in order to ensure our Company remains strong both creatively and financially.
We understand what a difficult time this continues to be for everyone, and would like to thank you for your continued commitment to serving our Guests. We appreciate that the past couple of weeks have been especially hard, as we have said goodbye to many dear friends who made personal decisions to leave through the Voluntary Separation Program.
Although we do not have the answers available at this time to address many of your questions, we would like to update you on our progress. We are generally pleased with the response to the Voluntary Separation Program, however, some involuntary reductions will be necessary. We are also looking at ways to restructure our Lines of Business to more effectively and efficiently support our expanded Resort. This, too, will require some additional changes to some roles and responsibilities.
While decisions are still being made, we hope to implement our new organization and reach our reduced workforce level in July, as consistent with the rest of our Company's business units. Throughout this process and into the future, please know that we remain committed to demonstrating the greatest level of care and compassion for every one of our Cast Members.
Sincerely,
Cynthia
and the entire Disneyland¨ Resort Leadership Team
Editor's Note from Al Lutz:
It's important to note in the third paragraph above (in Harriss' note), that the groundwork has apparently been laid for yet another round of layoffs.
As we've mentioned before in the updates, this appears to be only the beginning of several waves of layoffs at the resort — which will continue as overall business remains soft for the Walt Disney Company — and specifically for Disneyland as the new California Adventure park fails to meet expected attendance levels.
MousePlanet will have more extensive coverage on the cuts just made and possible future ones, at both the parks and the home office itself, in the next few days (as the scope of what is going on is assessed).
Meanwhile, you may wish to visit our news page for other media (and story links) reports on the same subject.
Main Gate Passes Good at DCA all year long
Until recently, Disneyland Cast Members (CMs) were told that their Main
Gate Pass — which allows them to admit guests into Disneyland (DL) and
California Adventure (DCA) twelve times a year — would only work at DCA
until the summer season began. That changed recently, though, and CMs
are now free to "sign in" guests on their Main Gate Pass all
year long. The same blockout dates still apply, naturally.
It looks like DCA isn't as busy as they anticipated, and they don't
mind allowing CMs to gain admission after all with their free passes.
Good news for the CMs! Not so good news for the numbers they hoped to
reach.
WDW Workers get clean underwear
As reported in various media outlets last week, the employees at Walt
Disney World (WDW) who portray characters recently won the right to employer-provided underwear they can clean themselves. Previously, workers were
forced to rely on Disney to launder the garments, but several incidents
of less-than-clean garments plus outbreaks of scabies (pubic lice) convinced
Disney that allowing home-issued underwear was not unreasonable.
No word yet on how this policy change affects the Disneyland resort.
WDW Union Contract Voted Down
Speaking of WDW CMs, they voted en masse this last week to turn down
the latest offer from Disney. About 25,000 of the 55,000 WDW workers are
part of this "Service Trades Council," which includes six unions,
one of which is a branch of the Teamsters.
Members voted 2,917 to 56 against the offered contract, which was perceived
as unfair to veteran employees. Instead of wage increases, the proposed
contract calls for bonuses, and also slips in higher health benefits premiums.
This week, a federal mediator was called in to help work through the thorny
issues.
Canoe Races Coming to Disneyland
The 38th Annual Cast Member Canoe Races are coming July 2 to the Rivers
of America. Sign-ups began June 11 at all TEAM Center locations and the
cost is $60 per team.
A new twist: for the first time in its 38 year history, the Canoe Races
will benefit a charity organization, Wonderful Outdoor World, which exposes
inner city children to the Great Outdoors. For more information, contact
Cast Enrichment at 8232-7554.
Disneyland's Cast Health Center Moving
For decades, Cast Health was simply the back part of Central First Aid
(CFA) at the end of Main Street. Now, a new Cast Health Center opened
June 12 at the southeast section of the Old Administration Building on
the first floor.
Company D (cast member store) has moved
The Cast Member store — long a repository for merchandise that doesn't
sell in the park, or possibly also CM-specific merchandise, has opened
a temporary location just minutes from the Resort. Located on W. Cerritos
Avenue, the store will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. until a permanent
location is established.
Since the physical space is bigger, an expanded merchandise selection
will be available. CMs may bring guests, but will have to show their Resort
ID to gain admission to the shop. As before, personal checks will not
be accepted.
Disneyland cast member shuttle stops relocated
Continuing the theme of shuffling locations at the Resort (seems to
be a lot of that, doesn't there?), the Shuttle Stop at Team Disney Anaheim
(TDA) is being relocated to the south end of TDA, between the Roundhouse
and the Entertainment Production Building. Also, the Shuttle Stop at The
Center is being relocated to Harbor Pointe.
The CM newsletter contained the following blurb:
Because the Harbor Pointe shuttle stop is outside of the berm, Cast Members must show their Disneyland¨ Resort ID card to the tram driver, prior to boarding the shuttle (at Harbor Pointe only). Plans to post approximate shuttles times are being considered after a short test and adjust period.
What this last ominous sentence may really be saying is that they are
toying with cutting back the number of shuttles run to the CM lot on Katella.
One report placed the number at three per hour. THREE!
Several hundred CMs park in the Katella cast member lot (KCML) per hour
during peak times — can three shuttles even take that many folks over
to Harbor Pointe?
Let's hope the adjustment period is smooth and quick — and features
more than just three shuttles per hour.
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Are you a CM or a former CM? I would love to hear and share your stories! E-mail me! Stories and comments you submit become property of and may be published on this site; we normally don't publish last names of current CMs, but if you wish to remain anonymous altogether or do not want me to share your stories, please let me know when you e-mail me. — Shoshana NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in reader-contributed stories do not reflect those of Cast Place or MousePlanet. CM – Cast member; company lingo for “employee.” Empowerment Evolution – The 1995 attempt by newer park management to introduce modern accountability and market forces into the stodgy Disneyland methodology and power hierarchies. The name was meant to “empower” rank and file employees by removing layers of their management, though now there are more managers than ever. TPO – Theme Park Operations; the division of the Disneyland hierarchy that actually works in the theme park itself. TDA – Team Disney Anaheim; the name of the on-site administration building. Area manager – used to be responsible for an entire land, with all business divisions in the area reporting to him. Area supervisor – the immediate boss for location supervisors who divide up a department of intelligently grouped locations. The area supervisors in turn reported to the area manager. Nowadays all supervisors and area supervisors have been replaced by managers and assistant managers — the same idea, but smaller “business units" than a department; usually just one location in fact. RFT – “A” status; a full-time hourly employee. RPT – “B” status; an hourly employee five days a week but just not quite 40 hours usually. CR – “C” status; an hourly employee who works weekends year-round and five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break). CT – a part-time hourly employee who works five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break). No seniority, so shifts worked are usually quite short. Locate the employment center to fill out an application, and they will call you for an interview (dress nicely, just shy of an actual suit). Once there, follow these rules, in this order of importance: 1. Smile and be very friendly. They want outgoing people.
2. Do not let the group interview throw you off balance. They want outgoing people who can “perform” a little bit.
3. Do not worry about job (in)experience. They don't care. They want friendly people, not experienced and/or hardened people.
4. Do your best to convince them you already have a Disney attitude: you want to work with people, you're a team player, and you would consider this a dream job (however, don't overdo it on the crazy-Disney-fan side either). Strike a nice balance.
5. Did I mention the importance of a smile? 
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