MICKEY RAT

After Orlando Disney workers overwhelmingly reject a paltry pay raise, Disney comes back with a worse offer

BY MCKENNA SCHUELER

Less than two weeks after thousands of unionized Disney World workers in Orlando rejected a contract proposal from Disney offering just a $1 pay raise this year for most, the multinational company came back with an even worse offer after one day back at the bargaining table.

“Despite the overwhelming message sent by Cast Members, Disney refused to add even one cent to its wage proposal,” the Service Trades Council Union, a coalition of six labor unions representing 45,000 Disney World employees, shared in an email. “Moreover, Disney’s proposal today reduced retroactive pay for thousands of workers, making today’s proposal even worse than the offer already rejected,” the STCU added.

Matt Hollis, president of the STCU, confirmed with Orlando Weekly that Disney last Wednesday offered “no meaningful change” from their last offer, which was rejected by 13,650 workers, out of about 14,200 workers who’d voted on whether to accept Disney’s offer earlier this month.

A spokesperson for the Walt Disney Co. had told Orlando Weekly that their last offer had included retroactive increased pay dating back to October 2022, starting at a minimum of $700 for those working at least 40 hours per week. Hollis told Orlando Weekly that Wednesday night the total reduction in retroactive pay in Disney’s latest offer varied by job classification, but was disappointing, to say the least.

And they did not return to the bargaining table the next day.

Andrea Finger, a spokesperson for Walt Disney World, told Orlando Weekly in an emailed statement last Thursday morning, “We’ve provided the union with options that would set all non-tipped cast members on a path to $20 an hour and provide opportunities for immediate increases, and we look forward to continuing discussions.”

According to the company, the offer included an option that would have raised wages for non-tipped workers to at least $17 an hour, upon ratification of the contract by both parties, with some workers reaching $20 within the first year.

Paul Cox, president of IATSE Local 631, which represents about 2,000 Disney World workers, shared on Twitter that the offer essentially moves the money around, but still represents a $5 wage increase for workers (or a “path” towards a $20 minimum wage, up from $15) over the life of a multi-year contract.

STCU represents various classifications of Disney World workers, from costuming to attractions, bus drivers, culinary workers and character performers. The coalition has been negotiating for a new collective bargaining agreement, or union contract, for frontline workers since August. They’ve been working under a contract that expired in October, but has been extended.

For nearly six months, the unions have been fighting for an $18 minimum wage for Disney World workers, up from $15, in a region where a living wage for a single adult with no children is about $18.85, or $32.51 in a household of two working adults with one child.