CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, April 04, 2023

Orlando Disney World unions reach tentative deal for $18 minimum wage in 2023

Orlando Weekly: After months of fighting for wages that keep up with Central Florida's cost of living, the six labor unions representing Disney World employees in Orlando have reached a tentative agreement with the multinational company that would deliver an $18 minimum wage for workers this year.

5 comments:

Marion Mongello said...

I will never shut up about how I’m from Orlando. I am so excited to go home, surprisingly because I actually hate Florida as a state I will say that I am very excited to go back to Walt Disney World because it is my second home other than my house and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania I have been literally counting down the days moment seconds hours until I can see the fireworks from my bedroom window again I have always dreamed of working at Disney one day, and it is very encouraging that they are finally raising the rates to a somewhat ideal place. I still believe that they need to offer their workers much more because minimum wage is not enough to live. There are many people that I know that have attended the college program which is great for college students, however, is sort of a way to allow students to live for free, but not making much money. It’s really exciting at the IATSE local 631 that represented so many Disney workers in closing the gender pay gap.

Abby Brunner said...

Just a few weeks ago I believe I commented on the other article that talked about the lack of respect and earnings that workers at Disney World were receiving. It is nice to see that corporation has now reached a deal to raise the minimum wage to $18. The cost of living in Central Florida especially has been constantly increasing throughout the years, and so for these Disney World workers finally having a good-paying job will help them be able to pay for their basic needs. I hope that in the coming years, Disney will continue to evaluate how they treat their workers and how much money their employees deserve for keeping the happiest place on earth happy. The number of long hours that goes into keeping the park clean, happy and a good place for all guest to stay is exhausting and should require a larger sum of money for their hard efforts. So it is nice to see that Disney World has somewhat recognized how hard their employees work by raising the minimum wage.

Rayya Gracy said...

This is great to see that people working at such a huge institution like Orlando Disney World are finally getting adequate pay for basic, living necessities. I am happy to see that all of the efforts made by the employees from protesting, and sticking out this long, awaited journey have finally gotten some form of compensation. I just fine it’s so crazy how some minimum wages just don’t accommodate for the basic, living necessities people need. But then large corporations, and other job places wonder why people don’t want to work because in a lot of job spaces especially those dealing with people interactions involve a lot of stress management skills and you often receive a lot of bad customers. So why would someone want to deal with all that while making such a low minimum wage?Therefore it’s great to see that some companies despite Orlando’s union having to fight so hard in order to receive their $18. Are inacting change to the minimum wage

Anonymous said...

I remember both reading an article a few weeks ago and watching a video some time ago about the lack of respect and pay Disney workers receive considering the amount of work they put in and the amount of money Disney as a company owns. This underpayment of theme park employees is not new. I had a family member that worked at six flags in high school and was paid an abysmally low amount. Seeing as Florida is well um Florida I feel that no government minimum wage will be raised in the near future. Seeing how much Disney workers care about their job and their guests I am glad union action is being taken to raise the minimum wage for Orlando workers. The cost of living in Orlando is also very high so I am hoping that raising Disney's minimum wage will drastically improve Disney employees' quality of life.

Theo

Emily Carleton said...

Establishing a standard for equitable pay for theater makers is crucial. I think this is a great way to incentivize theater to provide its employees with an equitable salary. Regardless of what someone’s position is, providing a livable wage helps establish the importance of all roles (and is the bare minimum to any job). I love that this gives agency to consumers to support productions that align more with their beliefs. I am excited to see how this first step of On Our Team’s plan towards equity helps push the industry and what they will do moving forward.
However, I am a bit skeptical at the success of this program. Since there are issues with organic and fair-trade labels, such as mislabeling and false advertising, I am wondering how On Our Team is handling this. Also in the spirit of transparency, I hope they have outlined explicitly what pay equity looks like to patrons.