For quite a while, Disney has unfortunately gotten the reputation of being a company that does not pay its employees very well — except for maybe the executives (Bob Chapek receives a $20 million bonus every year).
Disney Cast Members have been open about their struggle to pay their rent and bills and then pay for food and medication. In fact, a 2018 study found that one in ten Cast Members had experienced homelessness, nearly 70% had experienced food insecurity, and nearly 75% said that they do not make enough to cover basic living expenses.
Many Disney Cast Members are part of various unions, and those unions are constantly working to make sure their members are making enough money to pay their necessary expenses. In the past, the union has been able to negotiate better wages for its members. However, lately, negotiations have taken a turn, and not the way Cast Members would like.
Disney recently changed its attendance policy, and many Cast Members were not happy about it. And now, wage negotiations are not heading in a positive direction. Things are so bad that Cast Members are going on strike on November 30. News of the strike was shared on Facebook by Local 737 — which represents Orlando hotel and restaurant workers.
Yesterday and today we made very little progress in our negotiations with Disney. We continued to emphasize that a $1 raise in 2022 does not help workers live during historic inflation. When a company tells us “No,” we don’t back down. So all 6 Unions decided that it is time to take our message to the public. We are planning a large protest on Wednesday, November 30. As soon as we have more details, we will share them here. Stay strong and stay united!
Contract negotiations failed when Disney refused to go above its proposed $1 per hour wage increase. The union has been asking for a $ 5-an-hour increase that would take place over the next three years.
The state of negotiations is not known at this time. It is possible that the strike is being used as a negotiation tactic, which is not unusual when negotiations seem to be stalling.