Credit: Edited by Inside the MagicIt seems that Disneyland may finally be forced to raise their minimum wage, thanks to McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, and any other fast food location in the California area.
A California appellate court recently ruled that the Walt Disney Co. violated a local minimum wage law in Anaheim, Ca., the location of Disneyland, the company’s original theme park.
A class-action lawsuit representing about 25,000 workers claimed Disney didn’t pay the minimum wage under the local ordinance, known as Measure L, which was passed by Anaheim voters in 2018 to boost pay for Disneyland Resort workers. According to SHRM, “The lawsuit also alleged failure to pay for overtime hours worked and failure to pay state waiting-time penalties, which are extra sums an employer must pay to a worker for every day it hasn’t paid the worker’s final wages after the employment relationship ends.”
In response to a class-action lawsuit representing 25,000 workers, attorneys for Walt Disney Co. argued that it received no such city subsidies in Anaheim and that the law therefore didn’t apply.
But a three-judge panel from California’s 4th District Court of Appeal disagreed, citing a provision in a 1996 Disney expansion deal passed by Anaheim in which the city agreed to repay the company if it had to cover bond payments. The Los Angeles Times reported that this could be the reason minimum wage workers at Disneyland would be making $20.00, with a significant wage increase.
Originally, Measure L was approved by voters in 2018 and required businesses that receive subsidies from the City of Anaheim to raise their minimum wage to at least $15/hour in 2019, and then by one dollar each year, leading to $18 in 2022.
The fight for minimum wage increases to become livable ones has been felt across Disney parks worldwide. Disney World recently settled a deal where Cast Members would have their minimum wage increases to $18.00 per hour from $15.00 with the overall plan to increase that cost. The agreement covers around 45,000 service workers at the Disney theme park resort outside Orlando. Workers could see their hourly wages rise between $5.50 and $8.60 by the end of the five-year contract if it’s approved, union leaders said.
This was done after Cast Members claimed that the cost of living in Orlando was much higer than their pay at Disney. Many workers protested and noted that they could not afford medical bills, and some mothers noted they could not even afford baby formula or diapers on their current salary.
Of course, as one many imagine, the cost of living in California is not very low either, and many Cast Members would like to see their wage increase.
Outside of the current legal bindings that Disneyland is tied up in, it may very well be the fast food industry that convinces the happiest place on earth to pay their employees more.
As CBS News reported, “Most of California’s 500,000 fast-food workers would be paid at least $20 per hour next year under a new bill aimed at ending a standoff between labor unions and restaurants over wages and working conditions.
Changes proposed to Assembly Bill 1228 would specifically lift wages for workers at fast-food establishments that have at least 60 locations nationwide. It excludes restaurants that make and sell their own bread, including Panera Bread. California’s fast-food workers now earn somewhere close to the state’s minimum wage of $15.50 an hour.”
The $20 hourly wage would be a starting point, union members said. If passed, the measure would also create a nine-member Fast Food Council made of representatives from the restaurant industry and its laborers. The council would have the power to increase that minimum wage each year by up to 3.5% or the change in the U.S. consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, whichever is lower.
This is being done to combat the current inflation that the state is seeing, to help workers have a better chance at affording what they need to survive a little more comfortably.
With this new minimum wage increase coming into effect, many Cast Members who already work at Disneyland, especially those who work in the quick service foods department, may think it better to leave the mouse for the golden arches. At least fast food locations were guaranteeing the wage increase, as well as a plan to have that cost increase over the coming years.
Previously, we reported on the overall dissatisfied nature of Cast Members who work for Disney. Over half of workers who rent their housing are overcrowded – squeezing too many family members, roommates, or even multiple families into a unit that is too small to accommodate the number of occupants.
“Disney has become a nightmare to work for. The long hours, lack of livable wages, and zero respect has got to stop.” one full-time worker said.
68% of Disneyland Resort Cast Members are food insecure, and 76% of those with children under the age of 18 are food insecure.
“After 11 years at the resort, I make $12.02 as my base wage. Why should I drive 30 miles on the 91 and 5 freeways, almost always in heavy traffic, to earn a minimum wage?, a full-time merchandise host who has worked at Disneyland for 11 years.”
In addition to wage concerns, more than half (59%) of Disneyland Resort employees who are parents of young children say that their schedules at the Park make it difficult to care for their families and children. 64% of Cast Members report that “the scheduling of my work at the Disneyland Resort makes it difficult to find a second job.”
“I have been working for Disneyland for almost 28 years and I make less than $20 an hour. If I didn’t have my husband to help with the bills and other life expenses, I would be living out of my car, or worse, homeless. Disney has increased admission tickets, food & merchandise has increased too. Yet, the front of line ‘Cast Members’ are struggling to pay their mortgage/rent, groceries, transportation and other daily/monthly bills. I am not asking to get rich by working for Disney, but I am asking for fair pay for fair work. I expect to be able to not worry, to not stress, about having food to eat and a roof over my head,” a Disneyland Cast Member of 28 years said.
Knowing this, it would not be too shocking to see this new wage increase for fast food workers impact Cast Members potentially leaving Disney.
Do you think that Disneyland should raise its minimum wage to $20.00?
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