What's magical about working for Disney? I'd rather go to Afghanistan: Workers brand Magic Kingdom 'Mousewitz'



Minnie Mouse poses with children at Disney's Magic Kingdom, Florida

It is billed as the ‘happiest place on Earth’ where workers are known as cast members rather than employees.

But life in Disney’s Magical ­Kingdom is not so magical, according to a survey of the best U.S. companies to work for.

Disney ranked 41st in the list, dozens of places below the army, where soldiers on deployment to Afghan­istan face the daily threat of death from roadside bombs and Taliban snipers.

All four branches of the military ranked higher than Disney, which employs more than 100,000 worldwide in theme parks including those in Florida, ­California and Paris.

Disgruntled Disney workers have dubbed the parks ‘Mousewitz’ because they were so unhappy with working conditions.

And ‘cast members’ at Disneyland Paris earlier this year started referring to it as the ‘unhappiest place on Earth’ following the ­suicide of three workers.

TOP TEN COMPANIES IN AMERICA TO WORK FOR

1 Google 2 3M 3 ABN AMRO 4 DTE Energy 5 Air Force 6 Qualcomm 7 Army National Guard 8 Marines 9 Navy 10 LSI Logic The Army ranked No 11, ahead of Johnson & Johnson (16), General Electric (30), Microsoft (39) and Disney (41).

Union leader Guy-Bruno Mboe called work conditions ‘brutal’ and complained: ‘It’s all about profit, profit, profit.’

The Florida theme parks have been accused of paying minimum wages and firing workers for minor transgressions.

Google topped the list of best employers compiled by jobs website CareerBliss.com, which used independent reviews to evaluate opportunities for growth, pay and work-life balance.

Bradley Brummel, a psychology professor at University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, explained why the military had happy workers.

He told The Christian Science Monitor:'Despite challenges that may occur when serving our country, including the possibility of going to war, the military provides many of the essential elements to finding happiness at work.'

He said this included 'having a meaningful impact on the world, having true camaraderie with your co-workers and having the opportunities to develop skills.'

Disney has had staffing issues with Muslim women employed at its resorts in America.

Noor Abdallah, 22, was locked in a face off with Disneyland after her employers objected to her religious head scarf.

She worked as a vacation planner at a Disneyland Resort Esplanade ticket booth in Anaheim, California.

She refused to take another job away from the public, the Council on American-Islamic relations said.

Dispute: Muslim Imane Boudlal had to compromise with Disney over her dress code

So the park and Abdallah reached a compromise.Now she wears a blue scarf partially covered by a beret.



The case was separate from that of another Disney worker who refused to accept a costume headpiece and filed a federal discrimination complaint.



Imane Boudlal, 26, claimed in August that when she wore the hijab to work, her supervisors told her to remove it, work where customers couldn't see her, or go home.

Boudlal, who wore the scarf in observance of Ramadan, went home. When she showed up for work the next two days, she was told the same thing, she said.

'Miss Boudlal has effectively understood that they're not interested in accommodating her request either in timing or good faith,' said Ameena Qazi, an attorney from the Council on American-Islamic Relations who is consulting with Boudlal.

The resort offered Boudlal a chance to work with the head covering away from customers while Disneyland tried to find a compromise.

'Typically, somebody in an on-stage position like hers wouldn't wear something like that, that's not part of the costume,' said a spokeswoman.



'We were trying to accommodate her with a backstage position that would allow her to work.

'We gave her a couple of different options and she chose not to take those and to go home.'

Boudlal, who is from Morocco, had worked at the Storyteller restaurant at the hotel for two years.

Mouseketeers: Mickey and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during celebrations in Disneyland