Disneyland Paris has returned a percentage of its profits of $190. 3 million as part of a generous benefits package agreed after moves at its two theme parks last summer.
Disney theme park workers are known as cast members for the role they play in a themed setting, but the atmosphere at Disneyland Paris was quite a fairy tale last summer. A series of movements at its two theme parks cast a dark spell on the resort, reaching a crescendo in early June when protests by around 1,000 cast members led to the cancellation of the nightly fireworks show. A video of the fallout taken via the DLP Report social media account went viral when angry visitors could be heard booing when the exhibit was canceled. Surprisingly, there is a magical touch.
Unions representing the 17,702 workers at Euro Disney Associés (EDA), which manages Disneyland Paris, met three times with control in August and September to negotiate their reimbursement for the following year. Among other benefits, most staff received a 5. 5% salary increase. in addition to a bonus of 761 dollars (700 euros), a transportation subsidy of up to 1,305 dollars (1,200 euros), and even a reimbursement of 80% of their public transportation expenses. The profit sharing was the icing on the cake and was paid in January of this year at the rate of $570. 75 (€525) to any worker who had worked at Disneyland Paris for at least 3 months.
“These measures reflect the company’s preference for the purchasing power of stakeholders and recognize their commitment,” a source specifies. The tough offer that Disney offers its workers in Paris is the polar opposite of the offer made in the first place to its opponents at Disneyland in California, who have been negotiating a new wage agreement with the control for three months.
A pay rise is desperately needed, as a recent internal survey of union members found that 28% of cast members suffered from a lack of confidence in food, while 33% had faced a lack of confidence in housing in the past year and 42% had had to take some time off. I don’t have enough leave for health reasons. A staggering 64% said they spent more than a portion of their monthly salary on rent, which is why they demanded a pay raise.
According to Disneyland, hourly departure rates range from $19. 90 to $24. 15, which is higher than the $18 paid to staff at Walt Disney World in Orlando, but nowhere near what is needed. A living wage calculator developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that a single user without children would want to earn $30. 48 an hour to be able to live near Disneyland. This is a far cry from Disney’s initial offer.
In May, the Disney Workers Rising bargaining committee said it had rejected an offer that would give “an average of less than a dollar per year increase over five years. ” Our loyalty and longevity would be rewarded with an accrual of just 25 cents for those who have been applying to Disney for 20 years or more. ”
Last week, four unions representing more than 14,000 members announced that their members had voted to strike if they got a larger pay rise. This obviously caught Disney’s attention, as it reportedly introduced a minimum wage of $24 per hour to union members, with the hourly wage expanding to $1 for the time being and the third year of the contract.
Workers will vote on Disney’s offer, although the generous offer they are offering their counterparts in Paris may simply inspire them to push for a better deal.
A spokesman for UNSA, a French union confederation that has worked tirelessly to negotiate salaries, said paying a percentage of profits to Disneyland staff in California “would be more than fair. It’s a way to motivate and praise the actors. ” . members. ” Getting it in Paris is far from being child’s play.
Disney theme park workers around the world have concerns about their wages (Photo via Kristy Sparow/Getty. . . [ ] Images)
The hotel on the outskirts of the French capital is known for its escape atmosphere, but the moves have destroyed the atmosphere of its two parks for more than 15 years. In 2009, on one of the busiest days for Disneyland’s flagship park, staff protested an icy checkout that led to the first cancellation of the daily parade on its Victorian-themed main street.
This sparked three years of protests, culminating in the disruption of the station’s 20th anniversary festivities in 2012. Ugly scenes were noted by celebrities, such as British presenter Jonathan Ross, who tweeted to his 4. 9 million followers : “We are at Disneyland Paris on the 20th anniversary. ” There is a confrontation and the strikers march on the main street. “This did not fall on deaf ears.
At the time, Disneyland Paris’ parent company was listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange, with only 49% held by Disney and the rest held by the public. Since Disney did not own the complex, it gave it loans instead of making a loan in it as it did with its parks in the United States. The construction of the station was financed through $1. 9 billion (€1. 7 billion) in bank loans and the same financial costs led the company to suffer colossal losses.
Six months after the fateful day of the show’s cancellation, Disney raised its wand and paid off the bank loans from its Parisian stall. He repositioned them with a low-interest loan, but that was just the beginning. In 2014, this was followed by a rights factor and debt-to-equity conversion of $652 million (€600 million). The final act took place in 2017, when Disney took over the entirety of Disneyland Paris, putting it on the path to profitability.
Last year we revealed in the Sunday Times that in the year to October 1, 2022, EDA made an operating profit of $51. 1 million (€47 million), the highest in a decade. This increase was due to a sharp increase in revenue, which reached a record $2. 6 billion (€2. 4 billion) and accounted for 78. 8% of the total generated through foreign theme parks. of Disney. No ended up in Disney’s pockets.
“The incentive bonus was implemented for the first time in 2020,” says the UNSA spokesperson. “It takes into account the operational benefit and the satisfaction of visitors. If one or any of the situations are met, the premium would possibly increase. “
The CFDT, the majority union at Disneyland Paris, did not respond to a request for comment and Disneyland Paris did not provide an official on the payments.
The profit-sharing agreement was, first, for a period of three years with the final payment of $570. 75 in connection with the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, when the operating source of income of Disneyland Paris nearly quadrupled to a record $190. 3 million, as we recently revealed in The Guardian.
Disneyland workers have had to deal with exorbitant costs. Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
However, when profit sharing came to an end, workers needed it more than ever. Rampant inflation in 2023 will see the cost of electricity in France quadruple since Russia invaded Ukraine, while flour, butter and eggs were around 50% more expensive.
In May last year, staff demanded a monthly salary increase of $217 (200 euros), as well as a bonus increase for long-term staff and an increase in pay for Sunday work. A crisis broke out, but despite everything the staff got what they wanted.
That gives California a higher target to aspire to, especially since Disney’s United States subsidiaries generated 70% of the cash and 66% of the profits of its Experiences division, which includes its theme parks and cruise company.
The experiments hurt the media giant after its streaming platform Disney burned more than $11 billion in losses. Combined with a drop in movie tickets, this scenario led to the dominance of Experiences. Disney is doubling down, pledging to invest $60 billion in the department over the next decade, adding construction and a $1. 9 billion Disneyland expansion.
Last year, the reports accounted for just over a third of Disney’s overall profit and more than two-thirds of its operating profit. Paying its workers more can tarnish those profits, and Disney has a lot to gain.
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