Hong Kong - As second birthday parties go, it was a rather sombre affair. Faced with disappointing attendance figures and strained labour relations, executives at Hong Kong Disneyland were probably not in the mood to celebrate the park's anniversary Wednesday. Modest commemorative gifts were handed out to guests and some special treats laid on for staff but there was none of the pizzazz and ferocious optimism that marked the spectacular opening of the 3.5 billion US dollar park on September 12, 2005.
The reasons are plain. After falling 500,000 visitors short of its first year target of 5.7 million, sources within the park say Hong Kong Disneyland will struggle to achieve an attendance figure of 4 million in its second year.
On top of its disappointingly low crowds, a survey conducted by the Disney Cast Members Union among 470 of the 5,000-odd staff found that 63 per cent were unhappy with management, complaining largely of unequal treatment and what they see as unfair work distribution.
More than 80 per cent of respondents said they wanted Hong Kong Disneyland to bring its labour practices in line with those at the Disney park in Florida, where staff can be accompanied by union officials at disciplinary hearings and have access to independent arbitration.
The 150-strong union has accused management of unfair dismissal, bullying workers into signing written warnings, forbidding them from seeking medical consultations during work time and of being impolite, unfair and rude.
Union secretary Elaine Hui said some progress had been made with union representatives since August allowed to sit in on some disciplinary hearings but much more remained to be done to defuse staff unrest.
Employees interviewed for the survey said their experiences with management had left them with low morale and a belief that management - in particular the "leaders" in teams of small teams of workers - were biased against them and unlikely to respond to their complaints.
Forty-five per cent of employees interviewed expressed the view that complaining about a grievance to a supervisor, manager or to the Human Resources department of the internal Cast Advisory Council was "hardly ever effective."
Last year, 90 of the 120 employees hired to wear character costumes signed a petition calling for a pay rise to put them on a par with show performers, saying they had been made to feel "secondary and valueless." Disney eventually raised their pay when they threatened a protest in costumes in the park.
"My impression is that cast members love to work in Disney but sometimes problems occur in middle management which will make them lose their interest in working here," said Hui.
Greg Morley, director of human resources at Disney, concedes that the handling of labour disputes at the theme park has not always been ideal but insists that it is a problem management are getting to grips with and taking steps to improve.
"Leaders are now better trained and better equipped to deal directly with cast members in their issues one on one," he said. "I think our leaders have become better at personalising the cast member experience and not treating every cast member like they are the same person."
Despite its concessions, Disney is sceptical about the union survey, pointing out that the findings contrast starkly with a management survey of 1,000 workers conducted in April and May.
In that survey, 92 per cent of respondents said they felt they were treated with respect, 87 per cent said their immediate supervisor was available to listen to their concerns and feedback and 89 per cent said they were proud to be a cast member at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Morley said: "We are pretty pleased with what we got back in terms of cast members feeling very proud of their role in the company, proud of the job they do." A more detailed survey had been carried out on 95 per cent of staff and while details were not yet available, the results were similar, Morley said.
Responding to the union's allegations of unfair dismissal, bullying, unfairness and impolite and rude attitudes among managers, Morley said: "Certainly I'm never a fan of hearing people say negative things about the company, so a lot of those things I vehemently disagree with."
Asked to comment on the union's survey, he said: "I find it difficult to comment because I don't have any sense of who they spoke with and what their methodology was."
While Disney management are making moves to work more closely with the union, Morley made it clear that the union's goal of equity with Disney employees in Florida was unlikely to be met in the short term.
"To compare something like union relations in, say, France to union relations in Hong Kong seems to be a bit difficult to do," said Morley. "People work 35 hours in Paris. They certainly don't work that here. Some things you can compare. Our experience for cast members and guests is comparable. In terms of work rules and union relations, though, I think it is very difficult to do.
"The rules about grievance handling and union dialogue in Hong Kong are very well stated so we have maintained from the beginning active dialogue and consultation with the union. From our side, we are doing what we can to ensure they have an appropriate voice."
Hui remains hopeful that representation at disciplinary hearings is at least one positive step towards a greater goal. "We think that even thought the two parks (in Hong Kong and Florida) are in different countries the job nature and employers are the same," she said.
"For workers at these two parks the treatment, including the grievance procedures, should be the same. We won't say we need a sudden change right now but the ultimate, ideal situation would be one like that in the US."
