Credit: DisneyThe Walt Disney Company is finally beginning to crack and pay Disneyland cast members what they have been demanding for years.
It is well-known that Disney has been having issues with the workers who keep its Disney Experiences division, primarily over issues of compensation. This is most focused at the original Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, where thousands of workers recently voted to strike over unfair labor practices.
Those workers have also been negotiating for pay raises with the Disney Workers Rising bargaining committee releasing a statement that the company had offered an “on average less than a dollar per year increase for five years. Our loyalty and longevity would be rewarded with only a 25-cent increase only for those who have worked for Disney for 20 years or more.”
Related: Intimidation, Harassment, And Union Buttons: A Disneyland Cast Member Speaks Out On Park Shutdown
Disneyland Paris, the premiere European Disney theme park, has also been pushing for pay increases and updates to standards of living compensation for years (per Forbes).
After two months of negotiation (and, to be fair, years of off-and-on strikes), unions representing the approximately 17,000 Disneyland Paris cast members accepted an offer from Euro Disney Associés that includes “a 5.5% pay rise as well as a bonus of $761 (€700), a transport subsidy of up to $1,305 (€1,200) and even reimbursement of 80% of their public transport costs. The profit share was the icing on the cake and was paid in January this year with $570.75 (€525) going to any employee who had worked for Disneyland Paris for at least three months.”
Notably, Disneyland Paris has been making record profits in recent years. In 2022, Euro Disney Associés reported a $51 million operating profit, and the Disney Experiences arm of the company has come to dominate the entire corporation in terms of revenue (in part because of dwindling box office returns and the rise of streaming media).
While Disneyland Paris has dragged its feet regarding pay increases for cast members in recent years, it seems to have finally caved to union demand. The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim cannot say the same, where a staggering number of cast members have reported food insecurity and homelessness in recent years.
According to the Disney Workers Rising bargaining committee, “73% of the cast members that make these profits possible report they do not earn enough money to cover basic expenses each month. A separate survey of cast members this year found that nearly three in 10 cast members (28%) report experiencing food insecurity, 64% of cast members are “rent burdened” or spending more than half of their monthly paychecks on rent, 33% of cast members experienced housing insecurity in the past year, 42% of cast members had to miss work for medical treatment because they didn’t have enough sick leave.”
Related: Environmental Law Shuts Doors at Disneyland Paris, Hefty Fines as Punishment
Additionally, thousands of Disney SAG-AFTRA employees voted to strike against numerous video game companies, including Disney Character Voices, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Games, and Insomniac Games. A statement regarding the strike reads:
The union has said that pay has not kept pace with inflation and it has unaddressed concerns about gaming companies’ use of artificial intelligence in the contracts of performers who make money using their voices and/or likenesses. On July 20, SAG-AFTRA’s national board voted to give authority to Crabtree-Ireland to call a strike. As of Saturday, the union said it was “far apart on resolution of necessary terms covering critical A.I. protections for video game performers.”
It seems that if those cast members were in France, they might already have gotten a pay raise and a new contract by now.
What do you think of all the recent Disney strikes?