The National Labor Relations Board has ruled this week that The Walt Disney Company is not required by law to give a $1,000 bonus to union cast members. Earlier this year, Disney announced that 125,000 cast members would receive the bonus, but later decided it would not include union members in this arrangement.
In February, when the Service Trades Council Union discovered that their members would not receive the bonus they filed an unfair labor complaint, but that complaint was recently rejected. According to the regional director David Cohen of the NLRB, the complaint was rejected on the basis that Disney has no history of paying bonuses to union members and that the company has not shown any “anti-union animus.”
The Service Trades Council Union plans on fighting the decision by the National Labor Relations Board.
The $1,000 bonus is thought to be a bargaining chip in labor talks between Disney and the unions, which will pick back up on June 8.
Credit: Orlando Sentinel
Images: Unite Here Central Florida
