After months of stalled negotiations and a rejection of Disney’s “best offer,” the six cast member unions representing 43,000 full- and part-time workers at Disney World voted to approve a new contract today.

Cinderella Castle

The new agreement makes the minimum wage for Disney World’s current Cast Members $18 per hour by the end of this year, and is retroactive to October 1st, 2022 — the date their previous contract expired.

UNITE HERE Local 737 announced that more than 12,500 Cast Members voted on the contract and approximately 97% voted to approve it, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

We are voting YES!

Thousands of Union Cast Members are voting across property today 🗳️

Polls are open until 7pm! #DisneyWorkersNeedaRaise #DisneyCastLife #1u #unitehere pic.twitter.com/dqYWkB8SHH

— UNITE HERE! Local 362 (@UNITEHERE362) March 29, 2023

Jeff Vahle, President of Walt Disney World, released a statement about the vote: “Our Cast Members have always been at the heart of the Walt Disney World experience, and we are thrilled that, with the support of the union, they have overwhelmingly approved this new five-year agreement that significantly increases wages, alongside our leading benefits program that includes affordable medical coverage and more. Frontline employees also have access to 100 percent paid tuition for higher education through the Disney Aspire program.”

According to Disney, the contract provides for:

• Minimum of $17 an hour for new and existing cast members upon ratification
• Minimum of $18 an hour by year end for current cast
• Annual pay increases every year of the contract
• Full retroactive increased pay of least $2 more an hour, dated back to October 2022 for all current cast members
• Entry level rates for newly hired cast will reach a minimum of $18 an hour by 2024

When the proposed contract was announced last week, Mel Paradiso, a 3rd shift custodial worker at Animal Kingdom, said the $4 per hour raise she will receive in the first year of the contract will be “life-changing” for her family. “We live in a one-bedroom apartment, maybe we will be able to make it two since we have a little one.”

Unite Here Local 362 announces a new contract proposal for Disney World Cast Members.

Once the minimum wage of $18 an hour goes into effect (by the end of 2023), Disney will be the highest-paying theme park employer in Orlando.

“Disney is proud to offer an industry-leading employment package that includes comprehensive benefits and affordable medical coverage,” Vahle said in a statement last week after the proposed agreement was reached.

Disney World Cast Members at The Confectionery

Union leaders said Disney World Cast Members currently making the minimum starting wage at Disney World will get 36% in wage increases over the life of the contract.

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