What are they thinking ?!

They didn't raise the pay rate $.30 cents. The are now simply paying minimum wage with no bonus. The bonus is what set aside Cedar Point from a lot of other minimum wage jobs. It also gave employees pause before they quit toward the end of the season when things got difficult.

No doubt this was a financial decision. I'm interested to see how it plays out in late August and I feel for the full time managers who are going to have to deal with the repercussions.

CPboy77 said:
What exactly is the big deal on eliminating the bonus? They raised the pay rate 30 cents. That's pretty darn good.

Overall, they lowered your total wages by 5 cents, or 20 dollars all summer...

Actually, considering the number of hours worked it was probably more like $30+. But, that really isn't the point.

The bonus was instituted as a means to keep employees for the duration of their contract...because it is harder to staff after the middle of August. I had employees that had accumulated hundreds of dollars in bonus, and even a few that worked the shoulder seasons and earned bonuses of $1k or more.

They may have lowered their wages by 5 cents but they lowered their potential bonus...$7.30 an hour plus $.25 cents an hour bonus. That $.25 cents could easily add up to $750 or more over the course of the summer.

You have to look at the whole picture. And, the bonus in large measure separated CP from the bulk of other summer jobs.

I did a quick estimation of how many hours worked over the summer based on what I've heard from employees as to how busy etc. and came up with about 890, so lets round to 900 hours worked from open of season to Labor Day (obviously some work more, others less).

$.05 = $45

$.25 = $225

$.50 = $450

$1.00 = $900

So that's the money lost by employees by not having a bonus. Even if you try to look at it from a cost savings standpoint, a park with net revenues of several million should be able to justify paying a 2-300k in bonus' to employees. And even with the bonus, I would imagine there are 10-15% of employees who leave anyway, so there is some "savings" there.

Jugga, you are right. I was off on my calculations. Still...a bonus is a bonus, particuarly amongst a group of folks who don't tend to be good savers.

I worked at Geauga Lake and Cedar Point as a seasonal employee and I was always thinking about the bonus because that is the money I was sure to have coming in the Fall when I squandered everything else away.

Do what I do to help the underpaid workers - slip the ride op a $20 for preferred seating on Calypso.

No, seriously, the money was why I only worked one season. I couldn't afford to work there another year even when averaging about 60 hours per week at 3.25 per hour (plus bonus, which combined was still less than minimum wage back then).

So 'Tip' isn't just a clever screen name? ;)

I actually got offered a tip on skyscraper once. The dude pulled out a huge wad of bills and was peeling back some bills to give to me. I told him no cause my supervisor was standing there. Then she told me "You should have accepted that". I was pissed.

Well now we know what kind of character your supervisor was, someone in that position willing to break the rules is always a positive reflection. What was it that was said about rides like Skyscraper? That it's barely work at all? Why were you pissed, because you couldn't break the rule?

^You don't get the meaning of an anecdote, do you?

^^
I was pissed because I didn't break the rule and could have gotten a pretty sweet tip. Its not like being a waiter is an intensely difficult job either but they still get tips.

Waiters don't get paid minimum wage...and that last comment was obviosuly spoken by someone who has never waited on people.

I bought lunch for the kids yesterday and the bill amounted to $9. The waitress was so pleasant, patient and attentive that I gave her a $10 tip.

You are actually comparing the work on skyscraper to a waiter?

I've worked a wide variety of jobs in my life, and waiting tables was by FAR the worst & most difficult.

Chief Wahoo said:
I bought lunch for the kids yesterday and the bill amounted to $9. The waitress was so pleasant, patient and attentive that I gave her a $10 tip.

You are actually comparing the work on skyscraper to a waiter?

I must have been pleasant, patient, and attentive enough for this guy to want to give me something extra. Just because a job is easy doesn't mean you can't do it well.

No one was saying that you don't do your job well. Exception was merely being taken for your wholly inaccurate (see also: talking out of your a** ;)) take on how difficult it is to wait tables. It only takes a very cursory glance at Skyscraper to realize that waiting tables on a good day is exactly 123,698 times more difficult than your worst day.

Spend a few hours strapping people into those Skyscraper restraints and then let me know how much your arms and hands hate you the next day. It may not be hard, but it's certainly one of the more physical jobs in the park.

Please. You're talking to someone who's worked very physically-demanding jobs (road construction FTL), putting in 70+ hour weeks for months at a time. And I'd rather do that on a 110-degree day than wait tables.

I was just pointing out that it's more than standing there and moving a joystick all day.

Also, while we're on the subject, the Skyscraper in Pigeon Forge has a tip box at the exit of the ride. And theirs is $5 more to ride than the one at CP.

Next on Whose Job Sucks The Most, we'll be talking to the guy at the circus who has to walk behind the elephants with a shovel . . .

I hate tip boxes.

Hear that Starbucks? You are already overcharging me for the freaking coffee!