Disneyland workers say they live in cars and motels due to low pay

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Cynthia “Cyn” Carranza meticulously scavenged for a shady parking spot in the car she called home.

The overnight custodian at Disneyland has to sleep during the day - a difficulty for anyone, let alone when you're living in your car with two dogs. Ms Carranza says she makes $20.65 an hour (about £15.99) at the park but last summer, she couldn't afford rent in this Southern California city where the average apartment can run more than $2,000 (about £1,550) a month.

Ms Carranza teared up as she recounted the struggles of that summer, including sneaking for showers in Disneyland's costume department. She now shares a small apartment with her boyfriend, who also works at the park, but still makes barely enough to make ends meet.

“That’s not something that anybody should experience working a full-time job for a company like Disney,” she told the BBC.

Ms Carranza, like others who work at the park, detailed to the BBC the financial hardships that come with working at what’s supposed to be the “Happiest Place on Earth”. About 10,000 union workers at Disneyland - the first of 12 parks created around the globe - are threatening to strike over the wages and what they say are retaliatory anti-union practices.

Hundreds of workers protested outside the park this week, with an array of signs and pins showing Mickey Mouse's gloved fist in defiance.

“Mickey would want fair pay,” workers chanted outside Disneyland near the park's gates.

They voted almost unanimously to authorise strike action on Friday, just days before union contract negotiations for workers are set to resume.

While the vote does not mean a strike is imminent, it could set workers up to act quickly if negotiations sour. Authorisation also gives the unions leverage as talks with Disney management continue again next week.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2gpx7pnwdo

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The average house in Orange County costs 1.2 million. Hard to live there on Disneyland pay. It's also 2,300 for an average studio apartment (lower than I expected but still too high) When you're at $3,562 a month gross before payroll deductions are taken into account, , $2,300 is out of the question.

 

[kdonnel]

The average house in Orange County costs 1.2 million. Hard to live there on Disneyland pay. It's also 2,300 for an average studio apartment (lower than I expected but still too high) When you're at $3,562 a month gross before payroll deductions are taken into account, , $2,300 is out of the question.

Using the rule that no more than 30% of gross income should go to rent, that means that to afford $2,300 a month in rent a person should gross $92,000 a year.

Is there really an expectation that Disney should pay a minimum of of $45 an hour for all jobs?

As a consumer I sure would not want to pay the prices Disney would need to charge to have a minimum pay of $45 an hour.

As a stockholder I sure would not want to see the reduction in profits and stock performance Disney would see if they paid a minimum of $45 an hour.

I am not sure what the solution is but I don't think it is Disney giving Ms Carranza a 218% raise.

 

[focusondisney]

From a lot of news stories I’ve seen over the years, this is not a unique to Disneyland situation in California. There are teachers, police officers, medical workers etc that can’t afford to live in the areas they work. Some places are trying to address it with new, low cost housing. The cost of living & real estate has been out of control in California for a very long time.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Using the rule that no more than 30% of gross income should go to rent, that means that to afford $2,300 a month in rent a person should gross $92,000 a year.

Is there really an expectation that Disney should pay a minimum of of $45 an hour for all jobs?

As a consumer I sure would not want to pay the prices Disney would need to charge to have a minimum pay of $45 an hour.

As a stockholder I sure would not want to see the reduction in profits and stock performance Disney would see if they paid a minimum of $45 an hour.

I am not sure what the solution is but I don't think it is Disney giving Ms Carranza a 218% raise.

Nobody. And I mean nobody is calling for a 218% raise. Nice Straw man argument. Well then. I'll see your straw man and raise you a red herring. " I guess you're just fine with the people that service you and make your vacation nice living in their cars."

 

[Tatebeck]

This seems like it should be more about the cost of living in the area than Disney's pay. $20 an hour is not that bad, but when there is nowhere affordable to live there are definitely going to be problems. There is only so much Disney can do compared to to the cities and state to combat that.

 

[kdonnel]

Nobody. And I mean nobody is calling for a 218% raise. Nice Straw man argument. Well then. I'll see your straw man and raise you a red herring. " I guess you're just fine with the people that service you and make your vacation nice living in their cars."

Actually no I am not fine with them living in their cars.

My point is that Disney raising pay is not the total solution because as you say and I said as well, a 218% raise is unreasonable.

I will say it again, I don’t know the answer.

 

[tvguy]

Actually no I am not fine with them living in their cars.

My point is that Disney raising pay is not the total solution because as you say and I said as well, a 218% raise is unreasonable.

I will say it again, I don’t know the answer.

I agree. And the flip side, IMHO there are jobs that are not ever going to pay a "living wage" because their value to the economy isn't worth a living wage. Those are the jobs for High School and College students and retired senior citizens looking to make a little extra money.

 

[Deb]

And this is nothing new. 30 plus years ago when I was interviewing for my first post college job. This was on campus interviews. I remember one company in particular, if you were offered a job, they would take into account your preference for locations. They were honest however that if you choose their Hawaii location, you had better have other funding because you would not be making enough money to support yourself

 

[kdonnel]

I agree. And the flip side, IMHO there are jobs that are not ever going to pay a "living wage" because their value to the economy isn't worth a living wage. Those are the jobs for High School and College students and retired senior citizens looking to make a little extra money.

I'm not sure I buy that argument for every job, especially for jobs that in the past that used to provide for not only an individual but for a family.

In many areas of the country wages for some jobs have not grown as quickly as housing and other expenses.

Is it 100% the responsibility of the employers to close this gap? If not who else or what else should close the gap?

In the case of Ms Carranza, what part of the $24.35 an hour gap she is short should Disney be responsible for closing?

 

[tvguy]

I'm not sure I buy that argument for every job, especially for jobs that in the past that used to provide for not only an individual but for a family.

In many areas of the country wages for some jobs have not grown as quickly as housing and other expenses.

Is it 100% the responsibility of the employers to close this gap? If not who else or what else should close the gap?

In the case of Ms Carranza, what part of the $24.35 an hour gap she is short should Disney be responsible for closing?

Not every job. Entry level jobs. The kid flipping burgers.....although at most fast food places that is mostly automated now. I'm in California where that job now legally requires a minimum pay of $20 an hour. But, IMHO in the short term, that law is useless because under current wacky economic reality, NOBOBY will take that job for only $20. The McDonalds near me has been advertising for over a year a training wage of $22 an hour, and $25 an hour after a 90 day probationary period.
Also in California, job ads must list a pay range. So my a job that requires a College degree and experience, starts at $25 an hour.
https://boards.greenhouse.io/tegnainc/jobs/4414430007

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

It's mostly been Fullerton college and high school students and retired military that draw a pension as employees. Anyone applying for a job with no skills that offers low pay has the option not too. This is on the applicant, not Disney.

 

[barkley]

And this is nothing new. 30 plus years ago when I was interviewing for my first post college job. This was on campus interviews. I remember one company in particular, if you were offered a job, they would take into account your preference for locations. They were honest however that if you choose their Hawaii location, you had better have other funding because you would not be making enough money to support yourself

i saw this 30 years ago in california as well. i worked for a government entity that paid (for some classifications) among the highest wages of any in the state. we would routinely get experienced applicants from other regions in the state drawn by what to them were much higher salaries then they could ever dream of in their region. thing was-we worked in one of the highest cost of living areas in california so there was a huge percentage of people who accepted jobs, started looking into relocation and they realized that the higher pay would not balance out against the higher cost of living and they would actualy end up losing money.

 

[tvguy]

i saw this 30 years ago in california as well. i worked for a government entity that paid (for some classifications) among the highest wages of any in the state. we would routinely get experienced applicants from other regions in the state drawn by what to them were much higher salaries then they could ever dream of in their region. thing was-we worked in one of the highest cost of living areas in california so there was a huge percentage of people who accepted jobs, started looking into relocation and they realized that the higher pay would not balance out against the higher cost of living and they would actualy end up losing money.

My last few years working, whenever the boss would have a job applicant shadow us and talk to us about the job, I always warned to take a look at the cost of housing an auto insurance here. But, after the boss got burned twice in one week flying in applicants only to discovery once they were here that they were already making more than he could pay, the salary expectation question was asked BEFORE an applicant was flown in.

 

[obsesseddisneyfan]

Disney needs to raise wages.... Not because someone is living in their car. But becasuse they need to pay slightly more then the going rate. Have their pick of staff and let them create magic. The sleeping in your car can only be addressed by housing. There are lot's of levers that the government can pull to help with the cost. As this board is not political I will not get into them. I can say that my staff (who avg $45/hour) have had a hard time finding housing. It's not that they can't afford it. It is that there is not enough.

 

[bwr827]

I see that Disneyland has 35,000 cast members.

That’s too many for Disney alone to arrange housing for, but I wonder if they might build a bunch of lower-cost facilities and bus cast members to and from the parks.

 

[ronandannette]

Disney needs to raise wages.... Not because someone is living in their car. But becasuse they need to pay slightly more then the going rate. Have their pick of staff and let them create magic. The sleeping in your car can only be addressed by housing. There are lot's of levers that the government can pull to help with the cost. As this board is not political I will not get into them. I can say that my staff (who avg $45/hour) have had a hard time finding housing. It's not that they can't afford it. It is that there is not enough.

Yes, and this is why housing is unaffordable.

 

[iwannabdduck]

At the risk of stating the obvious, this is a difference that needs to be resolved at the negotiations table, not on BBC news, on TV, or on the internet. Before retiring I was my company's chief spokesperson in contract negotiations with our union for 20 years. I learned early on that there is no value in publicly pushing your agenda in the news media, for either the company or the union. There is nothing new in this Disney labor dispute, I've heard it all before. I just hope the responsible union & company people who have to deal with the real contractual issues in this case can successfully resolve them for the good of each other.

 

[Southernmiss]

What are Disney executive salaries?

Are they making too much to pay their park workers living wages?

 

[gsdweller]

I would be all for Disney paying people more, and raising prices to do so. They should increase prices until the parks are only 2/3 as full. The overall income could be higher, but less people, less crowds, more pay for workers.