After a year and a half of negotiations and protests, the Disneyland Resort reached a tentative contract agreement with the union that represents about 2,700 hotel workers.
The agreement between Unite Here Local 11 and Disney would raise the starting salary to a minimum of $15 an hour, up from $13.25, and pay workers $1,000 bonuses that were promised after the Republican tax plan was approved last year.
The workers are scheduled to vote on the four-year contract Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If approved, it would take effect Sept. 24.
In addition to raising the minimum wage, the new agreement includes "fair workloads for housekeepers" and "a new, affordable health insurance option," according to union officials who declined to provide more details pending the membership vote.
In February, a study commissioned by the unions was released, showing that 73 percent of employees questioned said they don't earn enough to pay for such expenses as rent, food and gas. The study of workers at Disneyland and California Adventure Park also said that 11 percent of resort employees have been homeless or have not had a place of their own in the last two years. Disney officials called the study "inaccurate and unscientific."
Earlier this year, union members also collected about 20,000 signatures to place a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot in Anaheim that requires all large hospitality companies that accept tax subsidies to pay a living wage.
Union leaders say the measure, if passed, would to the Disneyland Resort because it benefits from a 1996 bond agreement approved by Anaheim to build a six-story resort parking garage. Business leaders in Anaheim say the measure would not apply to the resort.
If the measure is passed, the wage increases called for in the initiative would supersede union contracts for companies in Anaheim that accept tax subsidies.
