This is a real jerk move by Disney. If they wanted to make the bonus contingent on the a new union agreement being in place by Aug 31, then they should have said so from the beginning. Disney positioned the one-time bonus as being linked to the recent changes in tax law instead of being tied to CM compensation or performance. While I understand that Unite Here may have had a part to play in Disney's "pull back" by demanding that Disney not include the bonus as part of the calculus in their future labor compensation talks (rightly so, I think), Disney could have done the pragmatic thing and not try and use the bonus to strong-arm the CMs into accepting a labor deal. Disney is not doing themselves, or anyone else, a favor by antagonizing the CMs by this latest move. The CMs rejected the last proposed agreement by 93%, so how is this going to help things???
Additionally, Disney's plan to split the bonus into two $500 payments, with the 2nd coming later in the year is also sketchy, because they can claim they're paying all of their qualifying CMs "$1,000" but they know that constant turnover will save them a good chunk of change because a lot of CMs that would have qualified to receive the 2nd $500 will have departed the company by then. Meanwhile, if the DIS Unplugged is correct, Universal employees have already received their full $1K.
While I'm not a big fan of unions on the whole, and I think the reported $15/hr that Unite Here is demanding is a "bridge too far", there's a heck of a lot of room to negotiate between the union's position and the mere 50 cents/hr increase that Disney was offering. Given that it's reported that the hospitality labor market in Orlando is so "tight" right now, I cannot figure out Disney management's thinking on this issue. If there's a better way to tick off good employees who can find work elsewhere and make them hate their employer and make them leave... well I cannot think of a more ideal negotiating strategy.
