In an ongoing battle to win a pay hike from Disney, employees of the Disneyland Resort in California have been uniting against the Mouse to get a raise that many hourly employees who work somewhere besides Disney get, thanks to a deal with the City of Anaheim from a few years ago.
When other pay increases went into effect in Anaheim, Disney’s Cast Members saw no automatic increase, resulting in Disneyland Cast Members’ representation to bring suit against The Walt Disney Company for failing to comply with the measure. But a judge ruled that Disney was not subject to the contract with the City of Anaheim, thanks to some fancy footwork by Disney’s up-tops before the contract was set to go live.
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Division amongst Disneyland employees at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure became evident after a recent vote in November that would have either approved or skipped over a contract with Disney that would have raised the minimum wage at Disneyland by $3 per hour by 2023 and would have awarded bonuses to Cast Members who had been employed by the Anaheim park since before 2001.
While unionized Cast Members at Disney’s California Adventure voted to ratify the contract, those at Disneyland Park rejected the contract altogether.
Now union employees of the Disneyland Resort in California have voted to accept a contract, thus averting a strike. Only Cast Members at Disneyland Park participated in the second vote on December 2 and December 3.
The contract includes an almost 20% pay increase of $3 per hour over a three-year window of time, as well as bonuses for Cast Members hired before 2001. If it sounds similar to the previous contract, that’s because it’s identical to the previous contract. The difference this time around is that on December 3, Cast Members, represented by Master Services Council, voted to accept it.
A spokesperson for Disney had positive things to say about the acceptance of the contract on December 3:
“The Disneyland Resort is pleased that Cast Members of the Disneyland Park represented by the Master Services Council ratified a new collective bargaining agreement,” said a spokesperson for Disneyland. “Cast Members from Disney California Adventure Park and Downtown Disney District previously ratified the same offer on November 17. We are proud of the competitive wage and benefit offer, which provides historical increases over three years, continuing to outpace the California minimum wage.”
If the vote had been a no, a strike would have been authorized. Cast Members’ vote to accept the contract avoids that strike.
Approximately 10,000 Disneyland Cast Members (about 40% of the total number of Disneyland Cast Members) are represented by the Master Services Council at Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, and at the Downtown Disney District.
The contract will raise the minimum wage from $15.50 to $18.50. Cast Members from Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney who accepted the contract initially have already been given a $2 per hour pay raise. Another $1 per hour pay raise will go into effect in June 2023. The minimum wage for the state of California will rise from $14 per hour to $15 per hour next year.