28 Feb Working for the Mouse: Union Coalition Survey Shows Disney Workers Live in Poverty
A coalition of 11 Disneyland unions is calling on the Anaheim, Calif. resort to raise its base wage to $20 an hour after a survey of 5,000 workers found many were hard-pressed to pay for food and medical expenses and 11 percent said they experienced homelessness in the past two years.
According to a 125-page report “Working for the Mouse,” , federal census and economic data show the average hourly wage for Disneyland resort workers dropped to $13.36 from $15.80 in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2000 and 2017.
Of 17,000 workers represented by the 11 unions, 85 percent now earn less than $15 an hour with more than half earning less than $12, below the poverty line for a family of four, according to a team of researchers at Occidental College and the Economic Roundtable, a Los Angeles nonprofit that drafted the report at the unions’ behest.
“The Walt Disney Company promotes Disneyland Resort as the ‘happiest place on earth,’” the report asserts. “But for many of the approximately 30,000 people who work there, it is not the happiest place to work. Despite steep increases in the cost of housing and other necessities, Disneyland workers have suffered steady pay cuts and are struggling to make ends meet.”
The forming of union coalitions in Anaheim and at Walt Disney World in Orlando marks a new phase for labor unions which have traditionally operated independently. Both coalitions filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board this month protesting Disney’s decision to withhold a promised $1,000 tax-reform bonus from several unions until they agree to the company’s latest contract offers.
In Anaheim, the bonuses are being used as a bargaining chip in current contract negotiations for Unite Here Local 11, which represents 2,700 housekeepers and other low-wage workers at Disney’s Anaheim hotels, and for the Orange County Musicians Association which represents 200 employees. Unite Here has been engaged in contentious negotiations for a new contract for more than a year.
Disney, which is estimating a $1.6 billion annual tax cut under the new tax law, is among a host of large companies that have chosen to give workers one-time bonuses in the wake of the corporate tax cut rather than across-the-board pay hikes.
The coalition’s report cites public records showing that since 2000, Disney’s annual revenues grew to $55.1 billion from $37.8 billion in 2017 dollars, an increase of 45 percent. Accounting for inflation, the company’s profit, or net income, rose by 582 percent over the same period to $9.4 billion.
Of the 5,000 union members who answered the 50-question survey – a representative sample by age, employment longevity and wages, according to the researchers – “Almost three-quarters (73 percent) say that they do not earn enough money for basic expenses every month,” according to the report.
The report notes that while many assume that most Disneyland jobs are entry-level positions for young workers, in fact 41 percent of the resort’s employees are 30 to 54 years old and 18 percent are over 54.
Among the survey findings:
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More than one out of 10 – including 13 percent of those with young children – report having been homeless, or not having a place of their own to sleep, in the past two years.
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More than half are worried about being evicted from their homes or apartments.
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43 percent reported in the past year they needed but could not afford dental care.
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37 percent of those with young children said that there were times in the past year when they needed prescription medicine but could not afford it.
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Nearly one of seven has had to resort to food stamps (the SNAP program), food banks, or other food donation programs.
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60 percent said that in the past year they ran out of food without the money to buy more.
The report, which contrasts Disney’s growing revenue and profits, rising executive compensation and skyrocketing ticket prices with the economic conditions of its workers, pulls from a wide range of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and other official sources to calculate wages and demographics not just for union members but for the theme park’s overall workforce.
The coalition’s report cites public records showing that since 2000, Disney’s annual revenues grew to $55.1 billion from $37.8 billion in 2017 dollars, an increase of 45 percent. Accounting for inflation, the company’s profit, or net income, rose by 582 percent over the same period to $9.4 billion.