From ocregister.com:

Members of the union representing 2,300 workers at three Disneyland hotels dressed as cartoon characters and protested at the park Tuesday morning.

The pickets are part of an ongoing effort by the union to influence contract talks that are underway between the union, Unite Here Local 681, and Disney management.

“Talks have progressively gotten worse,” said Unite Here 681 President Ada Briceño. “We have been making sure Disney knows we’re serious.”

Briceño complained that Disney’s proposals have included a two-tiered wage system under which new union workers would not make the same wages as veteran union workers in the same positions.

Disney officials said they were frustrated that Unite Here 681 leadership was negotiating the contract in the media. Disney spokeswoman Lisa Haines said Disneyland management has good relations with the other 23 unions organizing workers at the Anaheimpark.

Haines said two contracts negotiated with other park workers’ unions in recent months took only two weeks of bargaining.

“Out of respect for our cast members, we want to have a constructive dialog with union leadership at the negotiating table,” Haines said. “And we’re not going to negotiate in public forums. We’re confident we can reach an agreement with this union as long as union leadership is reasonable.”

Briceño said contracts proposed by Disney included provisions that would raise employee contributions to health insurance to $100 or more a month, and that some part-time workers would be ineligible for benefits. She said a strike vote was not out of the question.

“We’re hoping not to go there, but we need to do whatever it takes,” she said.

The talks have been rocky from the start. Unite Here workers have been working without a contract since the end of January and at first refused to even meet with Disney, though the company set up negotiating venues at resort-area hotels. Both sides started negotiations with a federal mediator this spring.

The union wants a deal for workers at the Disneyland Hotel, Grand Californian and Paradise Pier similar to deals it negotiated for its Sheraton and Hilton hotel workers. The deals included wage increases of several dollars for many positions.

Haines also said that Disney has to mete out raises and benefits among union workers in a way that’s fair to the other workers at the park.

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