Mousekingdom Blog

After starting in Festival Disney (aka Disney Village) in 1992, I have finally decided to move back to my home country after 14 years of working for the Mouse.

Disney has been a learning experience for me, and one that I will always remember with mainly fond and happy memories.

Having recieved many job offers in the UK, which were ALL better paid than Disney (no surprise there…), I made the decision to leave the Entertainment Department, and Disney at the end of January 2006.

In an internal survey, published in 1999/2000, 80% of DLRP Cast Members stated that their main reason for leaving the company was the pay. I was included in that 80%, but did not leave. I had always hoped that the situation of DLRP would get better, both for the company, and for the workers. I had hope for the future, in spite of all the bad press that the company was getting.

Then I looked through the archives a little. The strike movement of the Parade Department in 1998. The strike movement of the Central Reservations Office later that year. The Millenium strike in 1999. The Maintenance strike in 2002, just before the opening of the Walt Disney Studios… the list is long.

What is interesting to note however is that each of these strike movements have helped improve the working conditions of the personnel.

Take the Parade Department strike in 1998, which evolved into the longest ever strike in the history of any Disney themepark worldwide. This led to 100 artists recieving back pay over a five year period totalling nearly 850,000 Euros (not including Court fees). It also allowed the entire personnel of DLRP to benefit from a near 25% pay increase in their annual salaries.

The Reservations Office went on strike, shortly after the Parade department, and obtained supplementary bonuses for languages spoken, thus increasing their take home pay considerably.

The Millenium strike was somewhat different, and was affected by the Hurricane of the 26/12/1999, which cost the company nearly 140M€ in insurance claims. It did however make the world realise how badly paid the personnel of Disney still were.

And then there was the Maintenance strike in 2002. This was planned just before the Grand Opening of the WDS, and the Management was forced to implement a “Seniority Bonus” to all personnel with more than 3 years experience.

In all, it is fair comment to say that without social conflicts, the situation of the average Cast Member would be a lot worse than it is today.

Some people see the French as being lazy, and prone to striking. For some readers, you may agree, then again, you might not.

But at the end of the day, it is sad to admit in a company such as DLRP, that the only way to improve your financial situation is by going on strike, is that company finally worth working for?

By signing a contract, you accept what is included in that contract. However, when you realise that you have to continually fight to improve your salary or working conditions to survive, a pleasurable experience can sometimes turn sour, and bitter.

My experience in general at Disney remains however a pleasurable one, and one filled with great friends and memories.

For the readers of the DLP info Forum, I will endeavour to respond to any of your questions and comments as best I can. I still have many contacts over in France!

With 14 years of experience, I have lots to tell!!!!

To you all, “All the Best”

MR E

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 26th, 2006 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Disney Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.