ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney employees are voting on a new union contract that will affect 20,000 Central Florida workers Thursday.
Some of the unions want their employees to vote "no" on the contract. Three of the six unions are recommending "no." They comprise about half of the 12,000 voting members and it's all because of money.
It could all come down to a one-vote difference to decide whether Central Florida's largest employer will win over its 20,000 workers.
Most of the workers would get three-percent raises with the new offer. Some would get a little less or a little more depending on their positions or seniority.
But Local 362, which represents attraction workers, vacation planners, custodial workers and two other unions, are pushing for rejection.
"Disney didn't get rich by giving its money away and now it's our job as union leaders and union members to squeeze. They don't give money away freely so we have to take it from them," said Local 362 President, Eric Clinton.
Disney calls its contract offer fair and competitive. One union is remaining neutral for some provisions and against others and two unions are recommending their members vote "yes."
One of them is the largest Disney union, Local 737, which represents housekeeping, some of the lowest paid union workers.
Local 737 is being offered slightly higher raises; 3.5 to 4 percent over the next three years. But 737 said the raises aren't the only reason it supports the new contract offer.
"We wanted to retain our pension plan. It was a very big goal. The company wanted to go to 401K. They didn't get that. We wanted to keep medical costs under control," said Local 737 President Harris Raynor.
There are potentially 635 more "no" votes than "yes" votes with almost three times as many votes up for grabs. Neither side is going to speculate how it goes.
Votes will be counted after 7:00pm.
WFTV
