{"id":5608,"date":"2025-10-15T22:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/5608\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T22:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:39:10","slug":"disney-blocks-historic-labor-strike-at-epcot-in-orlando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/5608\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney blocks historic labor strike at Epcot in Orlando"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Credit: via Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The Walt Disney Company has blocked what could have been a historic labor strike by food service workers at Disney World\u2019s Epcot in Orlando, thereby forcing workers to take a different approach to leverage their demands for a new union contract.<\/p>\n

Restaurant workers at Epcot\u2019s Italy Pavilion, represented by Unite Here Local 737, are employed by the Patina Group, a Disney contractor. The union \u2014 which represents 70 workers at Tutto Italia, Via Napoli, and Tutto Gusto \u2014 has been in talks with Patina for a new union contract since earlier this year. Their last contract expired Sept. 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But after talks remained unsuccessful, union leaders announced in August that workers would vote<\/a> on whether to authorize union leaders to call for a strike \u2014 the first-ever by food service workers on Disney World property \u2014 if the company failed to meet their demands for higher pay and stronger benefits.<\/p>\n

According to Jeremy Haicken, president of Unite Here Local 737, Disney didn\u2019t like this threat. <\/p>\n

The multinational entertainment giant, which has its own multi-year contracts with labor unions, brought in an arbitrator to argue that a strike by any workers on Disney World property \u2014 even if not directly employed by Disney itself \u2014 would constitute a violation of their current contract with Local 737 and five other unions that make up the Services Trade Council Union.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the duration of that five-year contract<\/a>, last negotiated in 2023, the union is not permitted to aid or abet a strike by Disney World employees or, as Disney and the arbitrators argue, employees of contractors on Disney World property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arbitrator ruled that Patina Group employees cannot strike,\u201d Haicken confirmed Tuesday. Meaning, a strike will not be happening at Disney Epcot\u2019s Italy Pavilion. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage guests to dine at Patina restaurants and tell the company you support the workers when you eat there,\u201d the union president continued. \u201cThe fight,\u201d he said, \u201cis moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Walt Disney Company did not respond to a request for comment from Orlando Weekly on their decision to interfere with the Patina Group workers\u2019 strike threat. The Patina Group also did not respond to a request for comment about the lack of progress made in contract talks that led to the strike vote.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ismael Gonzales, a cook of 18 years at Tutto Italia at Epcot, says he\u2019s willing to do whatever it takes to secure a good union contract (Aug. 26, 2025) Credit: photo by McKenna Schueler<\/p>\n

Unionized workers at the Italy Pavilion are fighting for an $8 raise over three years, a pension plan so older employees can retire with dignity, affordable health insurance, and a 20 percent auto gratuity on customer checks. Under their last union contract, workers at the Italy Pavilion restaurants currently earn anywhere from $18.50 to $26.48 per hour. That maxes out at about $55,000 per year working full-time, depending on an employee\u2019s job classification and seniority.<\/p>\n

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, workers in the Orlando metro area in 2025 need to be able to earn at least $33 an hour<\/a> to be able to comfortably afford the average one-bedroom apartment, or $37.65 to splurge on a two-bedroom unit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving paycheck to paycheck is my reality,\u201d said Jennifer Qui\u00f1ones, who\u2019s worked at Tutto Italia for 11 years. She moved back into her grandmother\u2019s house, but said her cost of living has still \u201cskyrocketed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us experience the same thing: Our bills are too high. Patina needs to do more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Local 737 is also involved in an organizing effort<\/a> among Patina Group workers at five Disney Springs restaurants: Morimoto Asia, Maria & Enzo\u2019s, Enzo\u2019s Hideaway, Pizza Ponte and The Edison. The Patina Group, a subsidiary of the multibillion-dollar company<\/a> Delaware North, operates more than 40 restaurants across several states.<\/p>\n

Garrett Stephens, a server at The Edison in Disney Springs \u2014 a non-union Patina Group restaurant \u2014 said he hasn\u2019t been to a doctor in 10 years because he can\u2019t afford health insurance. \u201cI need to go to a doctor, and honestly, I\u2019m scared,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that\u2019s also why I feel so determined. Because me and my coworkers deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re demanding a fair process from Patina for us to organize a union,\u201d Stephens said. He also wants Patina to be held accountable for allegations of sexual harassment made by two women at Pizza Ponte.<\/p>\n

The union has claimed that at least one of those women, Julie Ruiz, was fired last fall<\/a> in part because she publicly spoke out against the harassment (allegedly perpetrated by a supervisor) and because of her prominent role in organizing a union at her restaurant. The official reason Ruiz was given for her firing was for wearing an earbud as she clocked into work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because I\u2019m still fighting,\u201d Ruiz, a young Latina, said Tuesday, standing alongside fellow Patina Group workers and Local 737 union members at Local 737\u2019s union hall. \u201cNot just for myself,\u201d she added. \u201cSexual harassment should not be tolerated. We all deserve higher standards at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Julissa \u201cJulie\u201d Ruiz, a former Patina Group employee at Disney Springs, joins other Patina workers and local union officials in calling for accountability from Disney, which allows Patina to operate restaurants on its property (July 30, 2025) Credit: photo by McKenna Schueler<\/p>\n

According to Disney\u2019s own supplier chain code of conduct<\/a>, the company believes its contractors should be held to bare minimum labor standards, too.<\/p>\n

Under the company\u2019s code of conduct, contractors \u201cmust treat each worker with dignity and respect and not use corporal punishment, threats of violence, or other forms of physical, sexual, psychological, or verbal harassment or abuse.\u201d Special attention, it reads, \u201cshould be paid to vulnerable groups, including, but not limited to, women, younger workers, migrants, and Indigenous peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local 737 president Haicken said that the union is calling on Disney to enforce its code of conduct for contractors and is demanding that Disney investigates the Patina Group for potential violations, including alleged violations of workers\u2019 collective bargaining rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, a National Labor Relations Board Regional Director issued a complaint against Patina that includes six allegations of illegal surveillance by management, one allegation of a coercive threat and one allegation that a general manager illegally prohibited employee speech about protected organizing activity,\u201d Haicken said.<\/p>\n

Union members and allies, including Ruiz, staged a flyering event<\/a> to raise awareness of these allegations earlier this year during the high-profile \u201cRamen Rumble\u201d event at Morimoto Asia, a Japanese restaurant on Disney Springs property operated by Patina.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorkers and their union are calling on Patina Group to live up to Disney\u2019s standards outlined in the Disney Supply Chain Code of Conduct, which sets high expectations for all companies that provide services authorized by Disney,\u201d Haicken said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Disney did not respond to a request for comment from Orlando Weekly on the Patina Group\u2019s alleged violations of their contractors\u2019 code of conduct.<\/p>\n

A union rep for Local 737 confirmed that, while unionized Patina Group workers at Epcot will not be striking, the union will continue bargaining with the Patina Group for a new union contract covering the Italy Pavilion employees.<\/p>\n

A strike can provide critical leverage<\/a> for organized labor during union contract negotiations, so without that, the workers will have an uphill battle ahead to get their demands met without major concessions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to fighting,\u201d said Qui\u00f1ones, the Tutto Italia worker. \u201cWe are never backing down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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