SO it seems (vote pending as I write) that the Disneyland workers’ strike will be headed off by a contract they like. But to get there they had to take a strike authorization vote AND launch a labor relations complaint with the government that is still ongoing.
Mickey walks down Main Street USA at Disneyland. (Credit: Mortimer Productions)
The IATSE finally got a good contract and voted it in vs. big movie companies like Disney. But to get there they had to threaten a strike and go through months of nasty negotiations that exposed unsafe labor practices and dangers the companies were happy to continue otherwise.
And back a few months ago, the Writers and Actors came to terms they like with the self-same producers. But it took months of unemployment strike ravages on them and the entire industry which have changed things for the worse for everyone and still not truly been recovered from, with nasty comments by Disney’s Bob Iger surely extending the period of strife. Does it have to be this way all the time?
Bradley Cooper and Bob Iger attend the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood CA on Thursday, April 27, 2023.
(Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
READ: 99% Of Disneyland Cast Members Vote To Authorize Strike
Look—I’m no Pollyanna. I’ve been around and involved in showbiz labor negotiations most of my long life. These are adversarial relationships by their very nature, even without the big egos, attitudes, and divisions even within the negotiating parties, let alone in their conflict points. And the results mean millions of dollars and affect the futures of families and companies and investors and audiences worldwide. I get it—these are big-deal deals with big implications beyond their immediate spheres of influence.
But do they ALWAYS, as it seems in our modern era, have to be so contentious, abrasive, angry, and downright torturous to all concerned and have such deeper impact on lives and livelihoods because of that? Isn’t there another way?
Sure. Or I wouldn’t be writing this (smile.)
Bob Iger via New York Times Events YouTube
IF you are a competent manager of anything—a lemonade stand or a multi-million dollar international media company—you have to look ahead. That means, in the case of the little beverage business, buying lemons and sugar and water at the best prices for not just today’s anticipated sales but next weekend’s too. And if you run a company whose relationships with employees in all the varied fields of endeavor run largely by three-year long contracts, you would do well to look ahead not just three years but six or more and say “What will they want, when will they want it, what can we give, and what can I do NOW to make a deal more possible and disruption less likely?
You CAN do that IF you have a mindset that admits “I’m not always right, I make mistakes, other people have valid points, and my job is to keep the machine running well and smoothly and not to needlessly throw wrenches in the gears just to prove MY point to my ego’s satisfaction. I could do some listening NOW to avoid conflict THEN and come up with sensible solutions that don’t bring extra baggage, govt. charges, or rancor to the table.”
You COULD….but not if you think you are never wrong, create a situation where you are never seriously questioned from within, and certainly never doubt yourself.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 21: (L-R) Bob Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, Frank Marshall and Alan Bergman, Co-Chairman, Disney Entertainment attend the world premiere of Disney+ documentary “The Beach Boys” at the TLC Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 21, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
READ: Disneyland Strike Hits Disney At Vulnerable Moment And Is Rare In The Company’s History
IF this reminds you of anyone, or several anyones’ in business, government, or particularly a certain powerful company that’s come on hard times with multiple failures not just in negotiations but in even getting the basic machines and productions they used to get so right amazingly and expensively wrong of late, well, it should.
So which choice do you make if you are a competent manager? Anticipating the future and trying to make it less contentious and less disruptive for your benefit and the benefit of those you depend on?????? OR Continue to think you’re a perfect being and govern with the authority of your own conception of perfection and, when you run into a snag with labor, with an attraction, with a movie, with ANYthing your company used to know how to create efficiently and expertly, just play catch-up and make excuses and learn….nothing.
The bottom line (pun intended as you’ll see) is that it is hard to anticipate and look ahead when your own head is deep up your own posterior….and that method of management is how great enterprises and even industries wind up in continuous contentiousness, expense, and decay.
