Disney CEO Bob Iger's pay: $65.6 million Disney workers: Living out of their cars

[Uncle Joe]

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Disney Sued by Labor Union for Failing to Pay Living Wage: Employees Have to ‘Live in Their Cars’

There’s an old Walt Disney quote, a favorite of workplace morale posters and business self-help books, that goes: “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” These days, there are a lot of people making the Disney dream a reality—a study of the Disneyland Resorts last year found that 27.2 million people visited the California theme park in 2016 alone, thanks to the 30,000 workers who keep the place up and running.

But a new class action lawsuit, filed Friday in California Superior Court and announced in a press advisory Monday, argues that the Walt Disney Company, worth approximately $130 billion as of this year, failed to pay hundreds of those workers a living wage. The complaint was filed by five Disney employees on behalf of more than 400 hospitality workers, accusing the Walt Disney Company and several affiliates (Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc., Sodexo Inc., SodexoMagic, LLC, and 100 unnamed Does) of “unlawful conduct and unfair business practices.” The plaintiffs are asking for back wages, restitution, and damages, which their attorney, Randy Renick, said may be significant. “With the back pay,” Renick said, “we’re talking millions of dollars.”

(snip)

“It’s important to know that the law doesn’t distinguish [between tipped or non-tipped employees],” Renick said. “You have to pay the minimum wage, or in this case the living wage, to all employees—whether tipped or not. California Constitution actually requires that… There are quite a number of folks in the class who are not tipped employees who are making less than $15 an hour.”

The 2018 survey of Disneyland Resort workers, or “cast members” as they’re called, found that 73 percent of employees “do not earn enough money to cover basic expenses every month.” Conducted by the Occidental College Urban & Environmental Policy Institute and underwritten by the CRLU, the report surveyed more than 5,000 Disney Resort employees. More than half reported concerns of being evicted from their homes or apartments; two-thirds said they were food insecure; and 11 percent said they had been homeless in the past two years. In the latter category, 13 percent were living with young children.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/disney-sued-by-labor-union-for-failing-to-pay-living-wage-employees-have-to-live-in-their-cars

[George II]

1. Tyler Perry lived out of his car for months. How did that work out?

[Uncle Joe]

4. So living in your car is good because you might become a movie star?

[BeckyDem]

6. Incredible.

[bullwinkle428]

7. Seriously?

[NYMinute]

2. I am sobbing inconsolably ....

[totodeinhere]

3. Of course Bernie has been very good on this issue.

The gap between rich and poor is obscene and it's getting worse by the day. That's one reason why we need a progressive like Bernie. To be fair, some of our other candidates are also good on this issue.

[BlueWI]

8. THIS.

Income inequality is at historic levels and trending in the wrong direction. Our responsibility as a party is to scale up the solutions, which I think only Bernie, Warren, and Yang are really doing.

[BeckyDem]

5. wow