Disney will pay millions back to Florida employees after the Department of Labor found the company violated its wage laws. ", "Don't turn away when they tell you they are unable to make ends meet," Disney wrote. Only 28% of Disneyland employees report having the same schedule every week. In October 2017, Occidental College issued a report on the economic condition of the workers at Disneyland. The best response to Trump’s bleating is not to jab back but to treat him as if he were a child or a drunk — detach from the ego battles, smile and look away in disbelief. Available for everyone, funded by readers. Workers at the theme park had rallied last year for higher "living wage" of $20 an hour. I was one of the top puppeteers.” But “in the 14 years that I worked there, I never crossed the $15 mark for pay”. Walt Disney once said, “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. The family of a lifelong Democrat has been imploring him not to support Kamala Harris. In some stories, Disney is equated with Wal-Mart as among the worst companies to work for. We can and we must do better. The White House conversation with Lesley Stahl is leaked unedited before Sunday’s broadcast. ", In a recent interview for Yahoo’s “Through Her Eyes,” Abigail Disney described meeting with Disneyland employees to better understand their grievances about their work. That’s what this company has done throughout its history and will continue to do in the future.”. The Anaheim area is a very expensive community to live in and yet, despite steep increases in the cost of housing and other necessities, Disneyland workers have suffered steady pay cuts after adjusting for inflation. Employees also have access to subsidized childcare and leave policies, access to pharmacies and clinics and free college degrees and vocational training for hourly employees. Further, the Federal Reserve recently found that over 40% of the American people do not have $400 in disposable income to pay for an unexpected financial expense like a medical emergency or car repair. The executive bonuses should have been used to help the regular employees who make waaaaaaaay less than those on top. Abigail Disney is the granddaughter of Roy Disney, older brother to Walt and co-founder of Walt Disney Productions. Even among full-time employees who have worked at Disneyland for more than 15 years, 54% are paid less than $15 an hour and 13% are paid less than $11 an hour. A Disneyland worker who left the company last year said: “I worked for 14 years with the company and I was somebody who excelled at my job. The Times endorses one incumbent and three newcomers for the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. Hearing real human beings describe what’s going on in their lives is another, and the testimony we heard at the rally from six Disney employees was both heartbreaking and mind-blowing. “Every single one of these people I talked to were saying, ‘I don't know how I can maintain this face of joy and warmth when I have to go home and forage for food in other people's garbage,” Disney told Zainab Salbi, the host of Yahoo's "Through Her Eyes.". Inside the Magic was created in 2005. The statement adds that Disney made a commitment of $150 million to fund the Disney Aspire initiative for the first five years, with plans to continue to make future investments. A previous version of this story put Robert Iger’s compensation at $162.5 billion. Abigail Disney isn't asking for a fairy tale ending for the thousands of people who work at the company her grandfather co-founded. This mistreatment by guests has led to many employees feeling contempt towards the tourists. Abigail Disney does not have an active role in the company. What started as a tiny central Florida based website and short weekly podcast that provided our audience the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World virtually has grown to the publishing company it is today. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. It could offer access to decent health care or an education for a child. — Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020. Reports and statistics are one thing. Since 2000, Disneyland’s attendance (more than 27 million in 2016), daily ticket prices ($117 most days of the year for anyone over the age of 10) and revenues (more than $3 billion) have increased, but during that period, its employees’ pay has dropped 15% in real dollars. 12:50 PM, Mar. Mickey Mouse appears during the lighting of “It’s a Small World” ride, decorated for the holiday season on Nov. 12, 2015 at Disneyland in Anaheim. I agree. It's not the first time the Disney heiress has advocated on behalf of lower-paid workers. Today, over 80% of Disneyland workers make less than $12 an hour. Park workers signed into the survey using an ID number, assuring that they couldn’t respond multiple times. “Since I started working for Disney, because my wages are so low, I had to move my 16-year-old daughter out of the house,” an employee at Disney’s Grand California Hotel explained. Column: Joe Biden finds a way to handle a brat like Trump. ”When my grandfather worked there, he hired people there to have a job for life.”, SEE IT: TEXAS MAN INTERVENES IN VIOLENT DISNEYLAND BRAWL: 'HAD TO GET IN THERE', Abigail Disney also called out Disney CEO Bob Iger for what she sees as a huge gap between his salary and the average Disney worker. A Disney heiress claims that she went to Disneyland, and says she wasn’t happy with what she saw. But the Disney heiress thinks workers who clean bathrooms at the company's theme parks, for instance, shouldn't struggle when the guy at the top rakes in — in her view — an "insane" amount, or $65.6 million in executive compensation last year. All Rights Reserved. PRIVACY POLICY. This isn’t the first time Abigail Disney has called out The Walt Disney Company (and chairman and CEO Bob Iger in particular) for its pay practices. Full-time employees are also offered low-cost health care benefits and childcare assistance, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News.