Days after unionized Disneyland employees voted to authorize a strike, a tentative deal on a new contract has been reached to avert any work stoppage, union leaders announced early Wednesday.
The Disney Workers Rising Bargaining Committee, a coalition representing a range of jobs at Disneyland, from custodial staff to retail clerks, said in a prepared statement to Theme Park Tribune, “We are proud to announce we have reached a tentative agreement with Disney that we will recommend to our fellow cast members. Cast members have fought hard for the past four months and this tentative agreement would not have been possible without the strength we all showed throughout this process and the unwavering support from guests and community members.”
Details of the deal are not being publicly released ahead of a presentation to members on July 28 and vote on July 29. In a X post, the union coalition said the new three-year contract “contains significant wage increases for all cast members, seniority increases and additional premiums as well as the retention of premiums.”
The contract covers 9,000 workers at Disneyland Park, who have been working without a new contract since the previous one expired on June 16. A separate union contact covering employees at Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney runs until Sept. 30.
Last month, the union coalition had accused Disney of unfair labor practices, alleging that the company illegally “intimidated, surveilled and disciplined” hundreds of workers for wearing union buttons.
Disney denied the accusations. The complaint remains pending before the National Labor Relations Board, which has held in recent years that employers cannot stop employees from wearing union-supporting insignia through dress code policies.
Disneyland unions have consistently complained about the consequences of their low pay in expensive Southern California, including recent interviews in which union members describe living out of their cars. However, there has not been a work stoppage at Disneyland in nearly 40 years.