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Credit: Universal Orlando Universal Orlando just announced the addition of their newest theme park, Universal’s Epic Universe. And as part of this new special announcement, Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO Universal Parks & Resorts, also announced the company will be raising its minimum base rate of pay to $15 per hour.
During this morning’s press conference, when discussing the significance of the park’s addition to not only the resort, but also the community, Williams began discussing the importance of the company’s employees and the valuable role they play in the resort. “I am a strong believer in the concept and have been for years that if we take care of our team members they will take care of our guests. And if we do so, we’ll make a fair and reasonable profit that will allow us to reinvest in our community and so that’s what we’re gonna do,” said Williams.
Williams continued, saying: “We care deeply about our Team Members…And so by the time of park opening (of Universal’s Epic Universe), our minimum base rate start of pay will be $15 per hour and will go up from there. No one is twisting our arms to do this. This is what we believe is appropriate and what we want to do,” said Williams.
See the full press conference in the video below.
Upon the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe, which will bring the addition of 14,000 more employees to the company, Universal Orlando Team Members will receive the highest starting wage the company has ever seen. The last time Universal Orlando saw an overall increase in its minimum wage was in November, when the company announced they were raising their starting pay to $12 per hour.
Wages have always been a tough topic for theme parks as many Orlando locals depend on the parks for their main source of income. This is something that also goes for workers at west coast parks as well in Disneyland and Universal Hollywood.
Just recently, Disneyland came under fire by Abigail Disney, who claimed employees of the theme park were facing poor working conditions and not enough pay. In response to her claims, Disneyland issued an official statement in which they shared that Disneyland pays a starting hourly wage of $15, which is higher than the California minimum wage requirements of $12 per hour.