Walt Disney Company Responds To Abigal Disney's Claims About Worker Conditions

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Kristen K.'s picture
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Walt Disney Company Responds To Abigal Disney's Claims About Worker Conditions

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/disney-heiress-undercover-disneyland-livid-abigail-disney

In a recent interview for Yahoo's "Through Her Eyes," heiress Abigail Disney described meeting with Disneyland employees to better understand their grievances. She claims that what she saw made her "livid" because her grandfather (Walt's brother Roy) taught her to revere the people that take your tickets, and pour your soda, that they are the recipe for success. She said that when he hired people, it was for them to have a job for life. Abigail feels that the current management of the company does not live up to expectations that her grandfather would have.

A spokesperson for Disney responded in the article saying that "We strongly disagree with this characterization of our employees and their experience at Disney. This widely reported stunt is a gross and unfair exaggeration of the facts that is not only a misrepresentation but also an insult to the thousands of employees who are part of the Disney community. We continually strive to enhance the employment experience of our more than 200,000 employees through a variety of benefits and programs that provide them opportunity, mobility and well-being."

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15 minutes of fame????? Or is there some truth?

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Kristen K.'s picture
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Abigail is a producer and filmmaker with a penchant for social justice and women's rights work. In her own circles she is pretty well known, and highly honored. I think that in the same way Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold fought against what Eisner was doing with the "Save Disney" campaign years ago, Abigail understands that these days the company is not what Walt and Roy O. wanted it to be.

That being said, the whole world is much different than it was, and keeping those family ideals isn't always what investors want, investors are more concerned about money. Many Disney investors don't care about the family connection, they just want the mega-corp that dominates the market. Personally, I want to see the company have and keep a piece of its heart, but arguing that to a board of directors doesn't usually go over well.

In my perfect world Abigail would slowly bring things to the forefront and position herself as a board candidate that could help retain the connection, but I doubt that will ever happen.

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The thing that really bothers me in Disney's response is saying that Abigail's statement is "an insult to the thousands of employees that are part of the Disney community." Really? Please don't speak for the employees that she claims are being mistreated and underpaid in an effort to argue your point. I highly doubt that employees are insulted that she's hoping to better their work/life positions. waiting

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Allie wrote:
I highly doubt that employees are insulted that she's hoping to better their work/life positions. waiting

For sure.

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Disney is great to work for and the benefits are really good. They could do somethings better which they are working on. They don't seem to care about company loyalty as much as they have in the past. They do throw a cast celebration once a year for cast that hit certain milestones and they hand out pins for those same milestones. Right now and going forward, there is no financial compensation for those years. Every one doing the same job, gets paid the same. So I could quit my job and come back in 2021 and get paid the same amount as if I had stayed.