Disney World unions reject proposal for 45,000 workers

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Union members voted against a contract proposal covering tens of thousands of Walt Disney World service workers, saying it is not enough to help workers cope with rising living costs for housing and other costs in central Florida.

The unions said 13,650 of the 14,263 members who voted in favor of the contract on Friday rejected Disney’s offer, sending negotiators back to the negotiating table for another round of talks that have been ongoing since August. The contract covers about 45,000 service workers at the Disney theme park outside of Orlando.

Disney World’s service workers, affiliated to the six unions that make up the Service Trades Council coalition, have demanded an increase in the starting minimum wage to at least $18 an hour in the first year of the contract, up from the starting minimum wage of $15 an hour. hour won in the previous contract.

The proposal, rejected on Friday, would have raised the starting minimum wage to $20 an hour for all service workers by the last year of the five-year contract, a $1 increase per year for most covered workers. Under the proposal, some positions, such as housekeepers, bus drivers, and cooks, start immediately with a minimum of $20.

“Housewives work really hard to bring magic to Disney, but we can’t pay our bills with magic,” says Wilan Rafael, who works as a housekeeper at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa.

The company said the offer offered a quarter of those covered by the contract, an hourly wage of $20 in the first year, eight weeks of paid leave for the new baby, retention of the pension, and the introduction of a 401K plan.

“Our strong offering provides more than 30,000 actors with an average of almost 10% immediate raises as well as a retroactive pay increase in their salaries, and we are disappointed that this increase is now being delayed,” said Disney spokesperson Andrea Finger.

The contract deadlock has come as the Florida Legislature is poised to meet next week to finalize the state’s takeover of Disney World’s self-governing area. Backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the GOP-controlled State House last April approved legislation to dissolve the Reedy Creek beautification district by June 2023, launching a tightly controlled process that will determine the structure of the government that controls the vast Disney World property.

The housekeeping contract covers costumed character performers who act as Mickey Mouse, bus drivers, cooks, lifeguards, theater workers and hotel maids, which make up more than half of Disney World’s more than 70,000 employees. The contract, approved five years ago, made Disney the first major employer in central Florida to agree to a $15 minimum hourly wage, setting a trend for other workers in the region’s vibrant hospitality industry.

A report commissioned last year by one of the coalition unions, Unite Here Local 737, says an adult worker with no dependents needs to earn $18.19 an hour to meet a living wage in central Florida, while a family with two children needs that both parents earn $23.91 an hour for a living wage.

While a wage of $15 an hour was sufficient for the latest contract, “with the price of rent, food and gas soaring over the past three years, it is no longer possible to survive at that wage,” the report said.

Before the pandemic, workers with families on wages between $15 and $16.50 an hour could pay their bills. But due to inflation causing food and gas prices to skyrocket, a full-time $15 an hour worker is currently earning $530 less than the worker is required to pay monthly for rent, food and gas, according to the report. report.

Last month, catering and concession workers at the Orange County Convention Center voted to approve a contract that would increase the wages of all non-tipped workers to $18 an hour by August, making them the first hospitality workers in Orlando. reaching that rate.

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