Disneyland Wage Hike Qualifies For November Ballot
ANAHEIM (CBSLA) — The heated controversy over living wages for Disneyland employees reached new heights Thursday.
As CBSLA's Stacey Butler reports, a new wage hike initiative will now go on the November ballot.
Disneyland workers marched on Thursday to close the wage gap.
"It makes us cry. We don't want the millions like they are making. We just want to be able to pay our rent," said a demonstrator.
In response to Thursday's march, Disneyland issued a statement saying they are negotiating one of the largest union contracts "with an offer that increases starting wages by 36 percent over three years, paying $15 an hour by 2020."
The workers' union says it is fighting for $18 an hour by 2022.
The argument over a livable wage comes as a new report finds that there is not a single state, county or metropolitan area in the country where a full time worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour can afford a two bedroom apartment.
According to the Low Income Housing Coalition, US workers need to earn $22 an hour to afford a modest two bedroom rental. Of the metropolitan areas to live in California, the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area was the 10th most expensive.
Workers need to make on average over $36 an hour to afford a two bedroom home.
Because the higher wage initiative was approved to go on the November ballot, the Anaheim City Council is going to take up the issue next week at their meeting.