Mickey puts on his yellow vest... More than 900 Disneyland Paris employees dressed in fluorescent jackets demonstrated in the park on Tuesday, mainly against a backdrop of wage demands. Despite the efforts of management to support the purchasing power of its employees in full inflation, the CGT-Disneyland says it is not satisfied and evokes "small clever cheap measures". After a first day of strike action on May 23, the movement was renewed without causing any dysfunction in the park.
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Management efforts deemed insufficient
In an ultimatum published on May 19, 2023, the CGT-Disneyland rebelled against its management: the results are "historically good" and yet in the eyes of the union organization the sharing of value is unequal within the company. All this in a context where inflation is raging. Nevertheless, the management of the park indicates that it has been involved to support the purchasing power of its employees with a 9% increase in salaries since 2022, or 9% in total for non-managerial employees. Over the year 2023, salaries were increased by 5.5% for 82% of staff. Disney adds that it has raised its minimum wages more than 5 times since 2022, and has frozen corporate catering prices to cope with food inflation.
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The wage contraction for the benefit of the only ruling caste" is "unworthy of the company" that Disney "claims to embody", castigates in return the CGT. The employees are now demanding a salary increase of 200 euros net. They also want double paid Sundays and a revaluation of mileage allowances.
Following negotiations on 26 May, management announced several measures: granting a value-sharing bonus of 125 euros paid in June and the possibility of changing the choice of overtime recovery. Disney has also offered its employees the opportunity to request the staggered of the second half of the 13th month from July to December. But the CGT is still not satisfied: "who are we kidding?" retorted the union in one of its communiqués, encouraging the demonstrators to renew their movement on Tuesday, May 30.
900 of the park's 17,000 employees marched down Main Street, the park's main driveway. The procession was mainly made up of operational staff, a significant part of whom were not unionized.
An almost normal day despite the strike
This event had little impact on the operation of Disneyland Paris. Management says attractions, restaurants and hotels were all open. Only a few shows have been cancelled. This is the case for Dreaming of an Illuminated World, a parade that usually takes place on Main Street. As the daily La Marne recalls, several meetings with the park's leading figures have been delayed, without being cancelled.
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The ball is in the management's court because employees are planning a new day of action on Saturday," said Fabien Beiersdorff, General Secretary of the CGT-Disneyland. However, management remains open to dialogue: negotiations on the 2024 salary plan are expected at the end of August.
