Disneyland workers say they are living in cars and motels due to low wages

Cynthia “Cyn” Carranza meticulously searched for a shady spot to park the car she called home.

Disneyland’s night janitor has to sleep during the day, a struggle for anyone, and even more so when you live in your car with two dogs. Carranza says he makes $20.65 an hour (about £15.99) at the park, but last summer he couldn’t afford to rent in this Southern California city, where the average apartment can cost more than $2,000 (about £1,550) a month.

Carranza cried as she recalled the hardships of that summer, including having to sneak showers in Disneyland’s costume department. She now shares a small apartment with her boyfriend, who also works at the park but still makes just enough to make ends meet.

“That’s not something anyone should experience if they work full-time at a company like Disney,” he told the BBC.

Ms Carranza, like other park workers, told the BBC about the financial hardships of working at what is supposed to be the “happiest place on earth”. About 10,000 unionised workers at Disneyland – the first of 12 parks to be created around the world – are threatening to strike over pay and what they say are retaliatory anti-union practices.

Hundreds of workers protested outside the park this week, carrying a series of signs and pins depicting Mickey Mouse’s gloved fist in defiance.

“Mickey would like a fair wage,” chanted workers outside Disneyland, near the park gates.

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

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

The Disneyland cast member contract expired June 16, and current negotiations involve a coalition of unions representing nearly 10,000 park employees, including everyone from character workers and ride operators to retail, restaurant and cleaning workers.

Union officials say about one in 10 Disneyland cast members has experienced homelessness while working at the park. A survey of employees showed that 73 percent say they don’t make enough to cover basic expenses each month and about a third said they experienced housing insecurity over the past year.

“We’re the ones making the magic,” says L Slaughter, host of the Toontown portion of the park. “We need Disney to pay us a living wage.”

Ms. Slaughter spent two years living in her car while working at the park. She now has a small apartment about an hour’s drive from Disneyland.

He spent a lot of time trying to find a safe parking spot to sleep, he says, adding that staff are not allowed to sleep in Disneyland parking lots.

“My rent just went up $200 and I won’t be able to pay it again,” she says.

Ms. Slaughter earns $19.90 an hour, thanks to a minimum wage mandate approved by city voters in 2018. Disney unsuccessfully fought the pay increase, but workers say it is still not enough to survive in Southern California.

A living wage calculator built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, says a single person without children would need to make $30.48 an hour to live near Disneyland in Orange County, which is about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Workers who spoke to the BBC said they have kept their jobs at the park because they love the Disney brand and rely on generous health care benefits and the union-run food bank, which some workers described as a saving grace.

Disney says it is committed to negotiating with its “cast members,” the company’s term for employees who portray princesses and pirates, as well as the chefs or janitors who maintain the park.

“We respect and value our Cast Members and recognize the important role they play in creating happiness for our guests,” Disney said in a statement, adding that talks with unions representing its workers will resume on July 22 and that they are committed to reaching an agreement “that focuses on what matters most to our current Cast Members, helps us attract new Cast Members and positions Disneyland Resort for growth and more jobs.”

The last Disneyland strike was in 1984 and lasted 22 days.

Ms. Carranza described the grueling work she does every night at the park: cleaning, polishing, repairing floors and sometimes installing carpet.

She said living in her car last summer was the lowest point in her life and thanks her dogs for keeping her alive.

“I know they are the reason I am still here, why I didn’t fall apart,” she said. “There were times when I wondered what I was doing here and how I was going to get back on my feet.”

But even with the small studio apartment Carranza now owns, he says he still lives paycheck to paycheck and can sometimes only afford to eat rice or noodles.

Although the workers’ demands are economic, the strike vote was called in response to complaints that workers were being disciplined for wearing Mickey Mouse pins and distributing union information in the park.

In June, unions filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Disney for “unlawful discipline, intimidation and surveillance of union members exercising their right to wear union buttons at work.”

Colleen Palmer, one of the negotiators for UFCW Local 324, has worked at Disneyland for nearly 37 years and makes nearly $24 an hour as a “product hostess.” She says she wore her union badge for less than a half-hour before management told her to take it off.

Palmer says workers are responsible for the experience customers enjoy at Disneyland, and that their loyalty and expertise should be rewarded. He said workers believe the pay gap between workers and company executives is outrageous: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s compensation was $31.6 million in 2023, hundreds of times the amount Disneyland cast members make.

“I wonder why you don’t want to acknowledge me, because I’m giving you that money so you can buy that sports team now,” he said, referring to the news that Iger and his wife had taken over the Los Angeles women’s soccer team, Angel City Football Club.

The disparity between workers’ and managers’ pay has fueled labor unrest in the United States. According to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, CEO pay increased by 1,460 percent between 1978 and 2021.

Disneyland is a unique place to work. Many consider it a career, not a job, and workers are often also fans of the Disney brand; some call it the cult of Disney.

Workers receive benefits like free admission to Disney parks for family and friends, but they also say Disney isn’t flexible when they have a family crisis or get sick. Many work second or third jobs, and Disneyland’s unpredictable schedules make it difficult to juggle them.

For students and retirees working part-time, it may be a dream job, but it no longer provides a living wage for people in and around Anaheim, a wealthy city whose largest employer is Disney, workers say.

“Without us, Disney would be just like any other place,” says Morgan, who lived in motels around Disneyland for four years with his children and wanted to be identified only by his middle name.

Morgan’s marriage broke up, and he lost his home, and his Disney salary meant he could only afford cheap motels. When his children were with their mother, he often slept rough and hid in the shadows to avoid police or robbery.

He now has a second full-time job as a recruiter (which he can do from home) and an apartment he can afford with the combined income.

Still, he takes pride in his work selling Disney merchandise and says every cast member takes the job seriously.

“It’s not the animatronics, it’s us. At least respect us enough to pay us a decent wage.”