Walt Disney World Workers Reach Deal for $15 Minimum Wage by 2021

Thousands of Walt Disney World employees would receive raises under a new contract settlement between the company and a group of unions that increases the minimum starting pay to $15 an hour by 2021, capping nine months of tense wage negotiations that led to large protests in Central Florida.

The unions, which represent 38,000 service employees at Walt Disney World — about half the total number working at the park — announced the agreement in a statement on Saturday, calling it “historic.”

Most of the workers make less than $11 an hour, said Jeremy Haicken, the president of Local 737, the largest of the six unions at the negotiating table.

Jessica Lella, 24, a union steward and ride operator at the park’s DinoLand USA, has been working for Disney full time for nearly six years and currently earns $10 an hour, the same rate as a new hire. Now that wages are set to increase, she said, she plans to stay at the company and hopes to start a family in the near future.

“I love working for Disney; it’s just that I couldn’t live off of it,” Lella said. She and her wife currently reside at Lella’s parents’ home to save money. “There’s no doubt that this is going to change people’s lives.”

Members will vote on the new contract on Sept. 5 and 6.

“I’m very, very confident that our members will vote to accept the agreement,” Haicken said.

The new contract would gradually raise the minimum pay in $1 increments. By September of next year, the starting wage will reach $13 an hour, followed by $14 in October 2020 and $15 in October 2021, the Service Trades Council Union said in a statement. Those who make more than $10 an hour will receive at least $4.75 in raises by October 2021, the statement said.

The raises are expected to bring an estimated $1 billion of additional wages into Central Florida’s economy during the four-year contract, the Service Trades Council Union said.

Robbin Almand, vice president of labor relations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in a statement: “We are thrilled our cast members will have the chance to vote on what is one of the highest entry-level service wages in the country. This represents a 50 percent bump in pay bringing starting wages to $15 an hour by 2021.”

The agreement came about a month after the Disneyland Resort in California announced it would raise its minimum wage for 9,700 union employees to $15 an hour by 2019. The employees, who were represented by Master Services Council, included those working in attractions, store operations and costuming.

The California state minimum wage is $11 an hour for employers with 26 employees or more and is set to increase to $15 an hour in 2022. In Florida, the state minimum wage is $8.25 an hour; John Morgan, a lawyer in Orlando, is aiming to put a measure on the 2020 ballot that would eventually raise it to $15.

During the negotiations with Walt Disney World union members, the company initially offered a 2.5 percent salary increase and no change to the starting minimum wage. In October, hundreds of union workers marched near a Disney World entrance, blocking traffic, one of many rallies that took place during the contract talks. A later proposal to raise wages by 50 cents was also rejected by workers.

In January, after a tax cut passed by Congress, Disney said it would give $1,000 bonuses to employees but announced that union members would not receive the bonus during pay raise negotiations. Unions representing the workers in Florida and California filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, which sided with Disney.

Finally, the two sides agreed to a wage increase in exchange for what Haicken called “minor changes,” such as a decrease in how often an employee can transfer from one job to another.

“I have to give Disney credit,” Haicken said. “Yes, there was a lot of public pressure for them to raise their wages, but they did do it.”

Haicken said the raises could lead to wage improvements for nonunion employees in Florida, citing earlier decisions by Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld Orlando to raise their minimum wages to $10, following in Disney’s footsteps.

“Disney is such a large employer, they really set the standard for employment in the region,” he said.

Revenues at Disney’s theme park division increased 6 percent to $5.2 billion during the fiscal quarter ending in June. Operating income increased 15 percent, to $1.3 billion, in part because of higher ticket prices and hotel room rates at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California.