News

Disney Agrees to Increase Workers’ Wages

Working at the happiest place on Earth has gotten happier for the 38,000 union employees of Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL, most who make under US$11 an hour. Disney has reached an agreement with the unions to raise the minimum wage pay to $15 an hour by 2021, Money magazine reports.

The pay increase will come in $1 increments, with minimum pay rising to $11 in December 2018, $12 in March 2019, $13 in September 2019, $14 in October 2020, and $15 in October 2021.

The unions have been pressuring Disney to raise wages for a year, through worker protests and negotiations. As an employer of about 70,000 people, Disney sets the going wages in Central Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Financial experts expect Disney’s pay raise will force other nearby theme parks, such as Universal Studios and SeaWorld, to raise their salaries to attract and retain employees.