Disney's Trust In Its Employees: A Recipe For Success

Disney has been criticised for its treatment of workers, with employees struggling to make ends meet and CEO Robert Iger earning $65.7 million in 2023. However, Disney has shown faith in its workers by allowing them to form Christian groups, and by maintaining a stance of tolerance and understanding. The company has also been praised for its diversity and inclusion efforts, including the inclusion of LGBT characters and storylines.

Disney's workers are underpaid, with wages at Walt Disney World 68% lower than the national average

Disney workers are underpaid, with wages at Walt Disney World 68% lower than the national average. While Disney has been described as a "dreamer of all time," and its founder, Walt Disney, a "genius," the company has faced criticism for its treatment of employees, specifically regarding their wages.

According to recent data, the average annual salary for a Walt Disney World employee is $30,000, which equates to $14 per hour. This is significantly lower than the national average salary of $66,000 per year. The disparity is even more evident when comparing specific job roles. For example, a Campus Recruiter at Walt Disney World earns an annual salary of $12,000, while the national average for this position is $30,000. Similarly, a Cast Member at Walt Disney World earns an average of $30,634 per year, which is $9,000 less than the national average for this role.

The issue of low wages at Disney has been a long-standing one. In 1997, the company was criticised for its treatment of employees, with some Protestants and Catholics boycotting Disney due to its stance on gay and lesbian sexual behavior. The Southern Baptist Convention, representing 15.7 million members, urged a boycott of all Disney-related products, citing the company's extension of health insurance benefits to partners of gay employees and the inclusion of "pro-homosexual" themes in some Disney subsidiaries' books and movies.

Despite facing criticism and boycotts, Disney has maintained its stance on these issues, and its low wages continue to be a point of contention for many. While Disney may argue that it provides other benefits to its employees, such as free entrance to Disneyland and Disney World, the significant gap between Disney wages and the national average suggests that the company is not adequately compensating its workers.

It is worth noting that Disney employees have expressed mixed feelings about their compensation. Some have stated that they feel underpaid, while others believe that their pay is "average" or "adequate." However, the data indicates that, overall, wages at Walt Disney World are significantly lower than the national average, which may impact the company's ability to attract and retain talented employees.

Disney has been accused of worker abuse, with employees in overseas factories subjected to inhumane conditions

Despite its wholesome, family-friendly image, Disney has faced numerous accusations of worker abuse and subjecting employees to inhumane conditions in overseas factories.

In 1996, the National Labor Committee (now the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights) reported that clothing contractors in Haiti producing Disney-licensed "Mickey Mouse" and "Pocahontas" pyjamas were paying workers as little as 12 cents an hour, below the country's minimum wage. The report also highlighted the vast disparity between this and Disney CEO Michael Eisner's earnings, calculated at $97,600 per hour. Although contractors raised wages to the legal minimum of about 28 cents an hour, this still left workers living in dire conditions.

In 2002, the same group expanded its focus to Bangladesh, where workers in Dhaka were making garments for a US-based Disney licensee and working up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, for the equivalent of 8 to 19 cents an hour.

In 2005, a Hong Kong-based group, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misconduct (SACOM), turned its attention to conditions in Disney's supplier factories in China. They found that just about every factory they identified was violating Chinese labour law, with abuses including excessive hours, improper wage calculations, and unsafe working conditions.

In 2007, China Labor Watch blamed Disney and other major Western toy companies for the brutal conditions in their Chinese supplier factories, including the hiring of underage workers and sexual harassment.

Disney has maintained that its licensees are responsible for labour conditions in factories, although the company has performed some inspections, the results of which were not made public. Disney has also refused to publish a list of all its supplier factories for what it says are competitive reasons.

In addition to the above, Disney has faced criticism over its US labour practices and has been accused of anti-union sentiment. In 2018, a survey of thousands of Disney workers revealed that nearly three-quarters of them did not earn enough to cover basic monthly expenses.

Disney has also been accused of immigration abuses, with a 2015 report in the New York Times claiming that the company was using the H-1B temporary visa program to replace regular employees with foreign workers.

Despite its denials and assertions that it strives to enhance the employment experience of its workers, Disney continues to face scrutiny over its labour practices and treatment of employees.

Disney has been criticised for its anti-union stance, with Walt Disney himself hiring armed guards to intimidate cartoonists attempting to unionise

Disney's anti-union stance can be understood in the context of his broader political views. He was a ferociously right-wing anti-communist during the 1940s and 1950s and testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, detailing what he saw as communist plots to take over Hollywood. He also branded some former animators as communists and labelled the 1941 strike as a communist plot.

Despite his anti-union stance, Disney has been described as a man of faith who attributed his success to his daily habit of prayer. In a 1949 article for the Judeo-Christian spiritual magazine Guideposts, Disney wrote about his "old-fashioned religious observance" and how he was "baptised" and attended "Sunday School regularly" as a child. He also wrote that he drove his two daughters to Sunday School every week and that he believed "firmly in the efficacy of religion". Disney's faith influenced everything he did, and he wrote that he asked of himself to "live a good Christian life" and that he shaped his "personal, domestic and professional activities and growth" around this goal.

However, Disney's faith and values have also been the subject of criticism. The company has been accused of lacking religious and moral sensitivity, particularly by some Protestant and Catholic groups who have called for boycotts due to the company's support for gay and lesbian rights. There have also been concerns raised about the inclusion of LGBT characters and storylines in Disney's movies and shows. On the other hand, conservative media outlets have expressed concerns about the addition of content warnings to older Disney films that perpetuate outdated and racist stereotypes.

Disney workers have protested and gone on strike to demand a living wage, with some success

In 2024, thousands of Disney workers in California voted on whether to stage a walkout, in what could have been the largest strike in the US that year. Three trade unions representing 14,000 "cast members" accused Disney of "unlawful discipline and intimidation and surveillance" of union members. Workers are fighting for significant wage increases, with the current minimum wage in Anaheim, California, at $19.90 an hour.

Hundreds of Disneyland workers protested outside the park in October 2024, with signs and pins showing Mickey Mouse's gloved fist in defiance. They voted almost unanimously to authorise strike action, which could allow them to act quickly if negotiations sour. Disney says it is committed to negotiations with its "cast members". The last Disneyland strike was in 1984 and lasted 22 days.

Disney workers have shared stories of hardship, with some living in their cars or motels due to low pay. One worker, Cynthia "Cyn" Carranza, an overnight custodian at Disneyland, said she couldn't afford rent in Southern California and had to sleep in her car. Another worker, L Slaughter, a host at the Toontown-themed part of the park, spent two years living in her car and now has a small apartment about an hour's drive from Disneyland.

Workers also say that Disney is not flexible when they have a family crisis or get sick, and the company's unpredictable schedules make it challenging to juggle second and third jobs. A Disney housekeeping worker in Florida said they recently had a newborn son and received no paid leave. They added, "With Christmas around the corner, we're beyond stressed... Groceries are limited because we just can't afford it. It's genuinely an emergency for our survival at this point."

Disney is tolerant of employees' Bible study groups, but has been boycotted by some religious groups for its stance on LGBTQ+ issues

While Disney has been tolerant of employees' Bible study groups, the company has also been the target of boycotts by some religious groups for its stance on LGBTQ+ issues.

Disney has been criticised for its stance on LGBTQ+ issues, particularly by conservative Christian groups such as the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN). In 1997, the SBC approved a resolution that triggered an eight-year boycott against Disney, citing the company's promotion of ideas inconsistent with their views on sexuality. The boycott was in response to Disney's decision to provide insurance benefits to employees with same-sex partners and allow "Gay Days" at Disney parks. Similar protests have also occurred over LGBTQ+ rights and legislation, such as Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Despite these boycotts, Disney has maintained a benevolent stance toward employees' Bible study groups. Disney employees have been allowed to form Christian groups, with one group in Burbank-area offices growing to 200 members. The company has stated that it "neither encourages nor discourages the groups", aiming to maintain a secular front to avoid alienating audiences in an increasingly multifaith culture.

Disney's complex relationship with religion is further illustrated by its founder, Walt Disney, who identified as a Christian and attributed his success to his faith and daily prayer. However, critics argue that Disney's productions lack religious content and promote humanist ideology instead of gospel-centric morality.

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