Soaring House Prices, Unable to Afford Relatively Low Wages
Secret Use of Store Shower Rooms Due to Lack of Bathrooms
Disneyland, the world's largest amusement park and nicknamed "the happiest place on Earth." However, there is growing attention due to revelations that Disneyland employees are being driven to homelessness because of low wages and high housing costs.
On the 20th (local time), the British BBC interviewed employees at Disneyland who are continuing protests demanding wage increases. Karanja, a Disneyland manager, revealed that although he earns $20.65 per hour, he cannot even afford the rent due to the high apartment prices.
The average monthly rent for apartments near Disneyland in Southern California, where Karanja works, is reported to be around $2,000. Because of this, Karanja reportedly parks his car in the parking lot every night and sleeps inside. He also confessed to secretly using the showers in the Disneyland costume shop during the scorching summer.
He expressed anger to the BBC, saying, "Should someone working full-time at a company like Disney have to go through this?" Currently, about 10,000 union members at Disneyland in California are deciding on a strike, pointing out demands for wage increases and the company's anti-union practices. The last time Disneyland employees went on strike was in 1984.
Over the past week, they have been protesting outside Disneyland, reportedly using Mickey Mouse symbols. Some employees held signs that read, "Mickey would want fair pay too."
The Disneyland union emphasizes that one out of every ten frontline employees is already homeless. Additionally, according to an internal survey conducted among employees, 73% of all staff responded that they do not earn enough to cover basic living expenses each month, and one-third reported experiencing housing insecurity.
This is not the first time the financial hardships of Disneyland employees have been highlighted. In 2022, the American independent film festival Sundance Film Festival premiered an expos? documentary titled "American Dreams and Other Fairy Tales," which depicted the daily lives of Disney employees suffering from low wages and heavy workloads, drawing significant attention. Notably, the documentary was produced by Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Disney founder Walt Disney, which added to its prominence.
The documentary candidly portrayed the stories of four Disneyland employees in different situations. One of them lamented, "Some are forced to choose between buying medicine or food."
Meanwhile, Disney recently issued a statement regarding the union's collective action, saying, "We respect and value our employees and recognize the important role they play in making our guests happy." They also added that they have resumed negotiations with the union and "will strive to reach an agreement."
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