Mickey won't pay a living wage. Workers at the Magic Kingdom can't pay their bills with magic.
The Disney Corporation likes to project a progressive image these days, but its anti-labor practices go back a long ways.
Walt hated unions.
Unions representing Disney theme park workers in Orlando have been bargaining for six months. The last contract expired in October.
The unions have been fighting for an $18 minimum wage for Disney World workers, up from $15, in a region of Florida 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.
On the one hand, Disney has been fighting with Governor Ron DeSantis over DeSantis’ plan to approve a takeover of Disney's Reedy Creek special tax district, created in 1967, which essentially makes Disney World a full fledged autonomous government.
Ironically, Disney was a financial backer of DeSantis election bid. During the 2020 election cycle, the "woke" corporation gave the re-election campaign of DeSantis $50,000 in March 2021, and another $50,000 two years before that.
A recent survey by one of the unions found that 69% of local tourism workers surveyed last year said they haven't had the money to pay rent or mortgage. Sixty-two percent say they have less than $100 in savings, and 45% reported skipping meals.
The Disney Parks' division, which accounted for a third of the company's revenue and more than half its operating income over the first nine months of last year, made $28 billion in revenue in 2022.
The company found the money to pay CEO Bob Iger $27 million. Former CEO Bob Chapek, who was fired in November, got a $20 million severance package.
Now, 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, the multinational company came back with an even worse offer after one day back at the bargaining table.
As one observer put it, “Making Disney's theme parks magical is labor-intensive, but workers can't pay their bills with magic.”