Disney World Workers Demand $8 Hourly Raise, Guaranteed 20% Tips, Pensions, and Free Insurance
Union and non-union employees at several Walt Disney World Resort restaurants operated by Patina Restaurant Group marched and rallied on Wednesday, citing specific demands for better compensation and benefits. UNITE HERE Local 737 is representing workers as they push for substantial improvements to their employment terms at several EPCOT and Disney Springs locations.
What Workers Are Asking For
The union’s contract negotiations center on four major demands that would dramatically reshape compensation for Patina Restaurant Group employees at EPCOT. Workers are seeking an eight-dollar hourly wage increase implemented over three years. They’re also requesting health insurance coverage at no cost to employees, with family members included in the benefits package.
Retirement security is another priority, with workers seeking pension plans adequate for long-term financial stability. Additionally, the union requests that a 20% gratuity be automatically added to every guest’s check at Patina-operated dining locations.
These restaurants employ workers who don’t enjoy the same benefit structures available to traditional Walt Disney World Resort cast members. Patina Restaurant Group operates Tutto Italia, Tutto Gusto, and Via Napoli inside EPCOT’s Italy World Showcase Pavilion, where current employees already have union representation through UNITE HERE Local 737.
Jennifer Quiñonez prepares food at multiple Patina restaurants in the Italy World Showcase Pavilion at EPCOT.
“I love to cook,” she said. “I put my heart into everything that I make, and it brings me joy to see other people eat my food. But loving my job doesn’t pay the bills. That’s why we’re fighting in our contract negotiations for big changes – because all of us deserve a good life.”
Wednesday Demonstration Draws 200 Participants
Around 200 UNITE HERE Local 737 members participated in a march on Wednesday, advocating for both fair contract terms at Italy pavilion restaurants and equitable organizing procedures for workers at Disney Springs locations. The union shared updates throughout the demonstration via Facebook:
📣 LIVE: Workers are marching demanding a good life for Patina workers!
We need a fair contract at Patina restaurants at the Italy Pavilion and a fair process to organize a union at Patina restaurants in Disney Springs!
Five Patina Restaurant Group establishments at Disney Springs—The Edison, Maria and Enzo’s, Enzo’s Hideaway, Morimoto Asia, and Pizza Ponte—currently operate without unionized workforces. Employees at these locations are seeking a fair process to establish union representation.
AJ Meeks works at The Edison and wants management to recognize workers as complete individuals with lives beyond their employment.
“At the end of the day, my coworkers and I deserve to be treated like people with full lives, people who have more going on than just work,” he explained. “We want Patina to treat us the way we know we deserve to be treated. That’s why we’re fighting for a fair process to organize.”
Disney Cast Members Express Support
Several unionized Walt Disney World Resort cast members participated in Wednesday’s march, standing alongside Patina workers despite working for different employers. Henry Allen Torres serves as shop steward and Assistant Sous Chef at Magic Kingdom Park and voiced his concerns about wage disparities affecting workers throughout the Central Florida vacation destination.
“It makes me so angry to hear what Patina workers experience,” said Torres. “It’s not good for any of us when people who work so nearby get lower wages, no pension, or no union protections, especially when they’re serving the same guests who come to Disney.”
History of Controversy Surrounding Patina Restaurant Group
Patina Restaurant Group’s relationship with its Walt Disney World Resort workforce has been marked by several contentious incidents since workers began organizing in 2024. A Disney Springs employee alleges she was terminated after filing a sexual harassment complaint against her supervisor. Separately, a union member claims a manager physically attacked him while working at Tutto Italia. During the 2020 pandemic shutdown, Patina stood out as one of the few third-party Walt Disney World Resort employers who declined to pay part-time workers while operations were suspended.
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