Disney Springs worker allegedly fired for pro-union activity, speaking up about sexual harassment

More than two dozen restaurant workers at Disney World in Orlando, plus a Democratic state representative, gathered at a local union hall Tuesday morning to call out a subcontractor at Disney Springs that allegedly fired a young worker of color last week who publicly spoke out about alleged sexual harassment by a supervisor.

She’s also become a leader in an ongoing unionization effort with the hospitality union UNITE HERE. After the 2004 merger of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, UNITE HERE now represents, among its many members, thousands of hotel and service workers employed by the Walt Disney Company.

“My supervisor wasn’t fired for sexual harassment, but one week after I passed out these [pro-union] flyers, I was fired for wearing an earbud,” said Julie Ruiz, a young cashier at Pizza Ponte. “I’m not going to accept this treatment. I’m going to fight for myself and the women who work at Disney Springs.”

According to Ruiz, the trouble began about two weeks ago — one week after she passed out pro-union flyers to visitors outside of the entrance of Disney Springs. The flyers shared a photo of Ruiz and her story of working as a “second-class” employee at a nonunion restaurant on Disney property.

Pizza Ponte, despite being on Disney property, is owned and operated by the Patina Restaurant Group, a third-party company subcontracted through Disney. The group, owned by hospitality company Delaware North, also operates popular eateries at Disney Springs like Morimoto Asia, Enzo’s Hideaway and The Edison.

One week after she passed out flyers, Ruiz said she was reprimanded for walking into work with an earbud in. She was asked by a supervisor to take the earbud out, and she did. She was told if she did the same thing again, she would be written up. “But instead, management didn’t wait for me to wear it again.”

Ruiz said the very next day, her restaurant manager suspended her. “They called me while I was suspended, and told me I was fired.”

UNITE HERE Local 737 and Ruiz believe she was illegally fired after speaking up about sexual harassment allegations and for becoming a public-facing union leader in her workplace.

“To be organizing with the union, I feel stronger, I feel more safe,” Ruiz shared, when she and other Disney Springs workers first announced their union drive in April. “Before I didn’t have a voice. Now, I can raise my voice,” she said.

Under federal labor law, it is illegal for an employer to suspend, demote, discipline or fire an employee for engaging in what are known as “protected, concerted activities.” Such activities include joining, supporting or forming a union. A violation of the law can be reported to the federal National Labor Relations Board as an “unfair labor practice” — but the process of an actual investigation and the associated hearings can often take months, if not years.

Jeremy Haicken, who serves as president of UNITE HERE Local 737, told Orlando Weekly that the union is “absolutely going to fight until Julie has her job back.”

Several employees of the Walt Disney Co., who are already unionized with UNITE HERE, also joined Ruiz on Tuesday in solidarity, calling out the Patina Restaurant Group for firing Ruiz and calling on them to hire Ruiz back. “I have the protection of a union contract, but Julie doesn’t,” said MaryOlivia Legree, an employee of Disney and a union leader who works at the Disney Polynesian Resort’s Ohana restaurant.

“I’m building a career at Disney while Julie is now jobless, but I’m not going to let the company treat Julie like this,” Legree asserted. “Every worker in the industry, whether they work at Disney or Disney Springs, deserves fair treatment. It is time for Julie to be back at work, and it’s time for a fair process to organize the union at Patina Restaurant Group.”

Patina Restaurant Group did not respond to a request for comment from Orlando Weekly on Ruiz’s firing nor the alleged sexual harasser still employed at Pizza Ponte. The group owns and operates multiple restaurants at the Disney Springs entertainment complex.

“Before I didn’t have a voice. Now, I can raise my voice.”

Workers at a couple of Patina’s restaurants at Epcot’s Italy Pavilion are already unionized with UNITE HERE — as are the 40,000-plus employees of the Walt Disney Company represented by a handful of different labor unions — but Patina Restaurant Group eateries at Disney Springs are non-union. In practice, this means they don’t have the same grievance process (an alternative pathway toward accountability for workplace problems) that union-represented workers do.
Ruiz, who made just $16 an hour at Pizza Ponte and is “basically homeless,” has become one leader in a movement to change that. “I take care of myself. I take care of everything. No one supports me financially,” Ruiz said, when workers first announced an organizing drive with UNITE HERE Local 737 in April.

While Ruiz had been saving up to find an apartment of her own, the petite worker-activist currently lives in the living room of a friend’s apartment, which costs her $450 a month. Her firing has disrupted her plan to find a place of her own and her ability to save.

Low pay and lack of access to basic job benefits (like healthcare) that are afforded to their union counterparts on Disney World property were key drivers of Patina Restaurant Group workers’ initial intent to organize at Pizza Ponte, Maria & Enzo’s, Enzo’s Hideaway, The Edison and Morimoto Asia. Most guests, workers say, don’t realize they don’t actually work for Disney, and thus aren’t afforded the same pay or benefits that union-represented Disney World employees do.

Florida House Rep. Anna Eskamani, the daughter of a former Disney employee and a Democrat from Orlando who reliably demonstrates support for organized labor, thanked Ruiz on Tuesday for her bravery in speaking up.

“I’m really just here to make sure that the Patina Group knows that our workers have the support of their elected officials here in Orlando, and that they’re not standing alone,” Eskamani said at the press conference Tuesday, where workers held signs that read, “Justice for Julie.”

“As women, we’re not going to put up with this,” Eskamani continued. “This is unacceptable.”

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This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2024.