Magic Kingdom worker makes $13.02 an hour, worked there for 17 years, lives in hotel
 

Wow.....

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busin...717-story.html



he two boys swivel their heads to where the sound of Donald Duck is coming from, but it’s only ride operator Mike Beaver doing one of his impressions again in the Magic Kingdom.

For a 45-year-old who can’t hide his inner kid, the job brings Beaver great joy as he manages the crowd at Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor with two bubble wands in his pockets.

At the end of his shift, Beaver will board the Lynx 56 Bus back to the motel on U.S. Highway 192 where he’s lived for two years.

Faced with the economic challenges living off his $13.02 an hour, Beaver is watching closely to see if his wages increase as Disney, the country’s largest single-site employer with a payroll of more than $2 billion, is set to begin renegotiating with the park’s largest union group this summer.

“I do have a hard life,” he says, pausing for a moment on his daily commute. “But I don’t think about it.”

Over the years, there have been tight talks and stalemates between Disney and the Service Trades Council Unions, a coalition of six unions that represents about 38,000 employees.

But in 2014, they reached an agreement that raised the minimum wage for employees from $8.03 an hour to $10 by 2016. As part of that contract, both sides agreed to re-open bargaining on employee wages for a 90-day window that could begin as early as July 26.

If they reach a consensus, the current contract extends until 2019. Otherwise, the contract is set to expire in October.

“We’re hopeful we’re able to push Disney,” said Eric Clinton, president of Unite Here Local 362 that represents ride operators, including Beaver. “Our goal is to have a pathway for our members out of poverty.”

Clinton said the unions will announce their wage proposal later this month.

When reached for comment, Disney said it offers overtime and extra shifts for employees as well as other benefits, which includes the company paying about 75 percent of employees’ health care premiums.

“Our strong and compelling employment package inclusive of industry-leading wages, healthcare, on-site childcare along with multiple discount options and more reflects our commitment to our Cast Members,” the company said in a statement. “We value all of their contributions.”

Beaver’s first day at the Magic Kingdom was Nov. 8, 2000, manning the Space Mountain ride. The starting wage, at that time, was $6.35 an hour, according to the union contract.

“I’ve been there 16 years and never transferred out,” said Beaver, who rotates working the attractions and Fast Pass kiosks in Tomorrowland. “I’m here to tell you, I still love it.”

He splits the $250 weekly rent at a Kissimmee motel with his friend, a long-time chef at a Disney resort.

One bright afternoon, the curtains are drawn and a lamp casts a yellowish glow in the cramped room where their possessions cover the desk, a bureau and are stacked on the floor.

Someday, Beaver wants to save enough for his own apartment or a car to replace his red 1989 Pontiac Sunbird that broke down in 2008, forcing him to rely on the bus.

But for now, the motel arrangement on the bus line works.

I'm thankful for a place to live.
— Mike Beaver
“I’m thankful for a place to live,” Beaver said.

On a recent morning, he boards a full bus that’s also carrying a Disney custodian, hotel workers and fast-food employees for the 45-minute ride to the parks before his shift starts.

In his spare time, Beaver plays online poker and dreams of entering the World Series of Poker. He likes hunting for bargains at the flea market.

He never married or had kids — it’s hard enough to get by as a single person on his wages, he said.

Beaver’s life truly revolves around his work, Clinton said.

In 2003, he became a shop steward for Local 362, which he calls being “called to the ministry.” The volunteer job meant advocating for other Disney employees and enforcing the contract.

“I have a purpose,” Beaver said. “I take care of my co-workers.”

Now, he co-chairs a safety committee at Magic Kingdom and serves on Local 362’s 13-member executive board.

“He’s proud of what he’s become,” Clinton said of Beaver, who grew up facing low expectations in a small Dutch town 40 miles from the Iowa state capital.

As a boy, it was hard for Beaver to be ambitious about a future career. He struggled to keep up with his classmates in school. A learning disability placed him into special education.

“A lot of people have looked down on me all my life,” Beaver said.

Beaver’s father, who died of cancer when he was in eighth grade, had wanted to see him graduate high school — a feat Beaver accomplished in 1990 in Pella, Iowa.

“I had something to prove,” he said. “I needed to do it for my dad and I needed to do it for myself.”

College seemed unobtainable, so Beaver worked in fast-food restaurants, working his way up to manager.

There weren’t many opportunities to fall in love or find a good job in his hometown, so he bought a one-way Greyhound bus ticket to Florida in 1993.

“I work at Disney World,” was the first sentence he wrote about himself for his 20th high school reunion newsletter.

“He’s just the salt of the earth,” Clinton said. “It’s not a complicated life, but it’s a hard one. It’s one he struggles with, but he’s also very fulfilled.”

Good for him. He sounds content.

Really this is the take away here.

not much stress

So, if he makes $13.02 an hour and is full time (40 hours), even after say 20% taken out for taxes, healthcare, etc that's still $1600 in his pocket each month. If he's splitting a $1000/mo hotel room with someone else, that's $500, so $1100 left. How else does he spend his money???

Says he likes online poker.

damn....i totally missed that. wow

Yeah, unless Orlando is NYC/California type of expensive, this article is just making up news.... $26k isn't poverty. I didn't find any KC-cheap apartments, but a 30 second search found $750-800/month, which would be better than a freakin' motel. And the online poker.

Poor life choices... not Disney's fault.

Disney is notorious for poor wages and working their people to the bone.

They don't call it "Mauschwitz" for nothing.

Yeah, I know people who work there in Orlando, but $26k isn't poverty.

They had a recruiting thing in college, advertising internships/jobs for all majors... they made a big deal of the interview process. I didn't get it, but a buddy of mine did. I was kind of pissed at the time, but that next summer the interns are serving food in 400 degree heat instead of doing college intern stuff.... granted, he still works there and is happily (finally) doing IT stuff, they definitely didn't strike me as a great place to work.

I live in Orlando.

$750-800 a month is going to put you in some places you don't want to be. $1,000 for a one bedroom in a decent neighborhood is pretty much as low as it gets here anymore. You can probably find something for $950-ish but that area will be iffy.

Nobody is forcing them to work there.

I'll bet for every person that quits, there are a hundred others ready , willing and able.

If you read the article closely, you'd see that the guy has a disability.

I doubt he's able to just quit Disney, especially as a union worker, and get get a better gig.

Good point. I'll bet he's happier than the story makes him out to be. Some people just have a very low wage ceiling in life. And that's ok.

Rock on, brother!

Lots to be said about a simple life.

Sorry but I don't buy that. 1k/mo for a 1BR? No way

Downtown kc was near that when I was in dental school a few years ago.

Get out of the Midwest every once in awhile.

LMAO

A one bedroom shitty apartment in Hollywood is $2,000 per month.

Thats insane. I have no idea how people survive out there??

You don't buy it because you don't think a 1 bedroom anywhere is that expensive or you just don't believe Orlando is that expensive?

I don't, either.... houses in Compton are $300k.

Wages are high

If you find a 1 BR apartment for less than $900 it's shitty and/or not in a desirable neighborhood.

Or it's not actually in Orlando.

No income tax in Florida.

LOL I wish!

Yeah, but do people who work at McDonald's make $30k/year? Or do they have 14 roommates?

If he didn't have a union representing him he'd be making $8.10 an hour (minimum wage in Florida). Unskilled labor is unskilled labor and no company is going pay you more than they have to just because it's the "right thing to do".

It's not that sad of a story.

That's really a non-starter.

People say the same about Texas without stating that the property taxes are insane.

For homeowners, it's no different than living in a state with with lower property tax while paying state income tax.

There are exceptions in every apartment building (and all of the new 30+ story towers being constructed) for low income families.

Those families also get massive discounts at private schools and are encouged to attend Charter Schools, without the burden of the suggested donations.

Yup. There's trade-offs in every state.

Montana has no sales tax. They make up for it by raping you on property taxes and having some of the lowest wages in the country.

Hmm, interesting... yeah, I know people who have to be making pretty decent money that spend 4+ hours/day commuting from like San Bernardino, and have talked to hotel employees who basically do the same.... can't imagine what it's like for people close to minimum wage in such a city, but that makes some sense.

I once read an article about how Overland Park/Olathe struggled with finding people who could work low wage jobs, and my first thought was how much harder it would be in a city where housing/rent is actually crazy.

My rental apartment is going vacant this month in Denver and I'll be advertising it for $1,150 per month. And it's a studio.

Truth right here. Housing is more affordable here than pretty much anywhere else in the country. It's really the only reason to be here.

Hah. Truth right here.

Weather? No.

Women? No.

Leisure activities? No.

Jobs? Eh, maybe. Depending on your trade.

Housing costs? **** yes.

Kansas City has some crazy little women.

Low Income Family exceptions are a huge thing here and fully backed by the mayor and city council.

I'm totally onboard. Everyone needs a chance. They shouldn't be pushed out because of a $100 million dollar development that robs them of their apartment.

The irony is that the lower income families that I know push their kids way harder than higher income families.

People outside of places like Los Angeles seem to demonize people of Hispanic origin yet those families that I know work harder than outsiders can imagine.

Job market is decent if you're in the city. Small towns...ehh...good luck. But if you find something you can live on next to nothing.,

The women thing is a bit of a myth. It's not like Florida or California but nowhere near as bad as Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Disney hires a lot of people with disabilities who would have a hard time getting hired at a lot of other places, and it's a place where they can get health insurance, affordable housing, etc. It's not a terrible deal, and this guy seems to like his freedom.

Well duh, hookers and blo, what else?

He should look to rent a room in a house or do a 2 BR share apartment rental. He would make out much better than a motel.

Nope

I've never lived in a motel, but I assume that he isn't paying anything for utilities and he may be getting free internet.

I have wondered this living in Texas within Dallas city limits which is as high at it gets for property taxes here. Property tax for homes is roughly 2% but there is a standard exemption that lowers property value taxed. Other than sales tax I don't pay any other local taxes. Also that property tax is on relatively cheap housing costs here.

Just ran rough numbers on Colorado to compare and would be a few thousand more per year for me. Though do very much agree with point of have to look at at all state and local taxes together.

He must be ****ing Goofy.

And I know people who have worked for Disney and call it one of the greatest experiences they have had in their lives. It's no different than any other large company like that....some will love it and others will hate on it.

As for your first sentence.....you could insert the name of a lot of companies in there and get people to agree.

It's in the 3% range a lot of places down here in Houston.

I used to think the same until I looked it up when I bought my house four years ago. Montana is about in the middle of the road on property taxes (tied at 19th lowest at 0.85%). However, tax on licensing a vehicle seems high to me after living in other states.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ta_by_type.png

Terrible. They should pay them live-able wages.

I personally worked on the Universal and Paramount lots for more than a decade. I have friends that have been on the Warner's lot for much longer.

Our experiences are enormously more positive than those that have worked at Disney.

Not discounting what you say isn't true....just pointing out that everyone's experience could/would be different.

I am betting there are people who have the same view of Universal and WB that you and your friends do of Disney.

I guess I am saying it is all in the perspective...

In nearly 24 years of living and working in Hollywood, I've never even once encountered someone that worked at multiple studios that felt like Disney was a better workplace than the others.

I am guessing that you are focusing on just those who have worked in California at either Corporate or at Disneyland.

While I am sure I know much fewer people that work in CA, I do have friends who work at Disney and not all of them are people who work in the parks. They seem to enjoy working at Disney and do not see it as the corporate grinder mill.

you are not taking into account that if you get an apartment you have to pay utilities. electric/gas, phone, internet, tv, water. it all adds up to way more than the motel room. 26k is certainly poverty. I make 70k and can barely scrape by (Rhode Island is much more expensive than Florida though.)

As I mentioned previously, I'm talking about the studio and the studio lots and I'm talking about creatives, not pencil pushers.

I'm not talking about the theme parks. Paramount doesn't even have a theme park.

Not to correct one small error here....Paramount doesn't have them parks now. At one point they used to own 7 amusement parks and 4 water parks I believe.

That was before the Viacom takeover of Paramount and eventual sale to Cedar Fair.

I was, if they're paying $1000/month for a motel room and there are apartments for $750-800, utilities and a phone might not even be $1000/month (I assume the A/C is on all the freakin time though, but when I lived in an apartment, my utilities weren't more than maybe $100/month).

I probably came off more "I know what's better for you after reading an article" than I meant in that post, but no, $26k isn't poverty. This article shows how ridiculous that statement is...

I'd have to assume people in poverty don't give a shit about phone or internet or TV. I know people in KC making $10-12/hour while raising kids alone, which is a small miracle... but, in KC you can also find cheap apartments for like $500/month.


And if this cost of living comparison is accurate....
http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-li...-park-ks/70000

...I'd really question your definition of scraping by.

That was before my time at Paramount

Rhode island is a tax haven. I pay 4500 a year in property tax, 5000 a year in federal tax, 2200 a year in rhode island income tax, 1800 a year in vehicle tax (they tax your cars every year, even though you paid tax when you bought the car) 500 a year in sewer tax, 1400 a year in TDI tax, 700 a year in unemployment tax, not to mention 7% sales tax on anything i buy in state. There are alot of smaller taxes that i am leaving out as to not seem like i am grasping at straws here. But I am also married with a 3rd child on the way, I am not single.

I really need to get out of Nebraska

You are 100% wrong and I am a perfect example of how I have managed to rent great places for a fraction of the price of weekly hotels. :clap:

Have you considered Illinois?

You may be right for certain parts of the country but dude, in LA, motels aren't cheap and they're occupied by hookers and drug addicts.

But the hookers aren't as conveniently located in an apartment.

Wisconsin isn't much better but at least they have cheese curds and killer bike trails.

Then they are right up his alley. Haven't you read his posts?

Didn't read the whole thread, Disney makes the wages, operations costs and utilities money within the first 15 minutes of opening for the day. It's about the same as Walmart.

A one bedroom shitty apartment in San Fran is $4,000-5,000 per month and close to the same in Mountain View. They are blowing the lid off of rents out there, it's thickening. :D

Easy, Judge Smails ROFL:

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