Workers Strike At Two Disney World Hotels

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL— Hundreds of workers at The Walt Disney Worlds Swan and Dolphin hotels went on strike May 28 in what is the first strike in years in Orlandos tourism industry, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Teamsters-affiliated housekeepers, laundry workers, seamstresses and public area attendants at began picketing outside the hotels this morning, according to the report. Last week, the workers rejected for a second time a three-year contract covering 400 of the hotels 2,000 workers. Management said it would implement the contract unilaterally. Although the hotels are located within the Walt Disney World Resort, they are owned by Tishman Hotel Corp. and managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. A spokeswoman for the hotels couldnt comment immediately on whether there was any disruption in services. Workers were demanding a guaranteed 40-hour work week and job assignments based on seniority. Strikes in Orlandos tourism industry are rare, said the report. In the past decade, there have been only two that area labor leaders can recall: a musicians strike at Walt Disney World and one by hotel workers at the Grosvenor Resort near Walt Disney World. In addition, hundreds of hotel workers were laid off last year during the tourism slowdown. SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel