Disney union’s bid for $1,000 bonuses could be hard fight

A dispute between Walt Disney World Resort and its largest union about bonuses appears to be the first of its kind to emerge from the GOP tax cuts, said several law professors who focus on labor issues.

“We might want to keep our eyes open for more of this,” said David Abraham, a professor at University of Miami’s law school, after several corporations announced bonuses for employees since the tax cuts.

The Service Trades Council Union’s complaint to the National Labor Relations Board about the theme park company’s refusal to give $1,000 bonuses unless union members approve a new contract could have some merit, Abraham said.

“It clearly is an effort to influence members by essentially offering to bribe them,” Abraham said. “We are essentially buying your vote, or your voice, in union negotiations, and that is historically an

unfair labor practice.”

Jason Bent, an associate law professor who looks at employment law at Stetson University, agreed. “On its face, it seems like a plausible unfair labor practice complaint,” he said.

But the dispute’s facts, such as the timing of the bonuses and putting them into context, will be key, Bent said.

“It can be difficult to win these cases,” Bent said. “You’re always trying to prove the intent of the action, which is a bit of an amorphous action.”

Disney did not make anyone available for an interview but said in a statement that it has not committed unfair labor practices.

“We have presented fair and compelling offers to the union reflecting our ongoing commitment to our cast members,” spokeswoman Andrea Finger wrote in the statement. “As required by law, compensation packages must be negotiated with the unions, and the bonus announced in January is part of overall compensation. We hope the union will reach timely agreement with us on behalf of their members.”

The Service Trades Council Union, which represents more than 35,000 employees at Walt Disney World Resort, including housekeepers, bus drivers and attractions and tech workers, filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the NLRB last month.

The issue stems from when Walt Disney Co. announced in January it planned to give $1,000 to more than 125,000 U.S. employees because of the company’s savings from the GOP tax cuts, which cut federal corporate rates from 35 percent to 21 percent. Those eligible for the money were “all full- and part-time non-executive employees, either hourly or salaried who have been with The Walt Disney Company [at least] since January 1, 2018,” Disney said in a news release.

There was a caveat not announced at the time: Walt Disney World Resort employees in the middle of labor negotiations must approve a new contract by Aug. 31 to get the bonuses, according to Disney’s latest contract offer.

Union leaders have struggled for months to find common ground with Disney on employees’ wages.

In December, Service Trades Council members overwhelmingly rejected Disney’s contract proposal that would have given at least a 50 cents-an-hour raise for two years.

Eligible employees, including those in the 14 other unions that are not in contract negotiations at Walt Disney World Resort, received the first bonus payment — $250 in March, with the remaining $750 expected in September.

In California, another union that represents workers at three Disneyland resort hotels also recently filed a similar labor complaint.

Disney may argue this is a unique scenario because the bonuses came from a new and unexpected pot of money, Bent said.

“It’d be a much different situation” if Disney always gave annual bonuses to everyone, and then suddenly one year cut out the union, he said.

In general, Bent said the pay and benefits packages offered to nonunion employees do not have to match the ones collectively bargained with the union employees.

It could also be challenging for the unions to win a case because the labor board’s general counsel was appointed by President Donald Trump, some professors said.

NLRB’s leadership and its voting board members may be more likely to see the bonuses as discretionary and not an attempt to circumvent the unions, Abraham said.

What happens next is that NLRB’s general counsel must decide whether to issue a complaint against Disney to initiate the process; otherwise, the case stalls, said Michael Harper, a professor at Boston University’s law school, who also agreed the union’s case has possible merit.

Unless a settlement is reached, the complaint could go before an administrative law judge whose decision is reviewed by a NLRB panel, Harper said.

If the union prevails, “the remedy is to make the parties whole. I think that could be paying the bonus to all the workers who were denied it,” Harper said in an email.