Disney World, unions reach agreement for $15 an hour starting wage
Disney World and the union representing 38,000 employees have reached a historic agreement that would raise starting pay to $15 an hour by October 2021.
The agreement came with no major concessions from members of the Service Trades Council Union, the coalition that represents six unions at Disney, according to the union.
The workers will receive the controversial $1,000 bonus Disney announced it would give workers when it received a major tax break last year, but Disney held back the bonus to union workers due to the negotiations,
“These Union raises will be life-changing for the women and men who welcome millions of tourists to Walt Disney World,” Matt Hollis, president of the STCU, said in a statement. “Now money tourists spend here in Central Florida will stay here, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into local small businesses.”
- The $10 minimum hourly wage would increase to $11 in December 2018
- The wage would increase to $13 in September 2019.
- The wage would increase to $14 in October 2020
- The wage would finally increase to $15 in October 2021.
The final raise goes into effect the month Disney World celebrates its 50th anniversary.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Robbin Almand, vice president of labor relations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said the Disney is thrilled the Cast Members “will have the chance to vote on what is one of the highest entry-level service wages in the country.”
The union is set to vote on the proposal Sept. 5 and Sept. 6, 2018.
The negotiations between Disney and the STCU has been contentious at times.
On Dec. 20, 2017, Disney union members rejected a two-year contract offer that would have given them at least a 50-cent an hour raise. They wanted to speed up when starting pay for Cast Members would be $15 an hour. That level would not have taken place until 2028.
In 2014, Disney and the union negotiated a minimum wage of $10 for cast members. The contract allowed the union to reopen wage talks in 2017.
