Disney Moves to Cut Employee Benefits for Disneyland Performers

Cast members are the reason Disney parks work, and entertainment cast members are a category of their own.

Attractions, food and beverage, and merchandise cast members shape a large part of the guest experience, and none of that should be minimized. But entertainment cast members are doing something different. They are the heartbeat of the parks. They are what make a land feel like a place rather than a set. The parade performer holding a smile through a July afternoon in full costume. The character performer who makes a nervous four-year-old feel brave. The atmospheric group that turns a walkway into something you stop and watch.

Plenty of guests plan entire trips around entertainment. They check parade times before they check ride wait times. They will skip an attraction to catch a show.

It is physically demanding work with a short career runway, and the people doing it tend to be deeply committed to it.

Which is why the news out of Disneyland this week matters.

Disney has proposed a new contract that would eliminate paid parental leave and cut paid holidays for costumed performers at Disneyland.

What Disney Has Proposed To Performers

Costumed cast members and those who work behind the scenes of Disneyland’s parades are organized under the union Actors’ Equity Association.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the association recently reported that Disney “has threatened to take that benefit away, as they negotiate a new contract that includes proposals for higher wages, among other items.”

Union members say Disney’s current proposal does three things. It eliminates one day of holiday pay for full-time employees. It does not include paid parental leave. And it reduces the amount Disney matches on employee contributions to their 401(k) plans.

Those details came from an April 6 email to Actors’ Equity Association leadership written by a Disney manager under the direction of Christie Sutherland, head of labor relations at Disney Experiences, which the Times reviewed.

The proposal also limits the number of times a worker can give away a shift without managerial approval.

Union members say the holiday being eliminated is Easter.

Disney’s Response to Performers

Disneyland Resort spokeswoman Jessica Jakary said the proposals may change and noted that the bargaining unit is new.

She noted that these negotiations are not modifying an existing contract. They are establishing initial employment terms and conditions for the first time.

Jakary stated that no benefits are being cut. The union disagrees.

Why Both Sides Can Say Opposite Things

This is the part that confuses people, and it is worth understanding because it explains the entire dispute.

Under the terms Disney set on its own, these employees received paid parental leave before the union organized.

Once they voted to unionize, Disney and the union began negotiating a completely new contract from the ground up. In that process, existing benefits were not guaranteed to carry over.

That is how Disney can say no benefits are being cut while workers say they are losing them. Technically, nothing is being removed from a contract because there was no contract. Practically, performers who had paid parental leave last year may not have it under the proposed terms.

Both statements are accurate. They are just describing different things.

What Is Currently Provided

For context on what is at stake, Disney currently provides up to eight weeks of paid parental leave.

Union workers can also apply for state financial assistance for family leave. Depending on income, that assistance can temporarily replace 70% to 90% of their salary.

According to the union, 25 people in the unit took baby bonding leave last year.

Why the Shift Trading Change Matters

The proposal limiting how often workers can give away shifts without managerial approval might sound minor. Performers say it is not.

Madison Huckaby-Budds, a Disneyland entertainment host, explained that the ability to trade or give away shifts was genuinely helpful when she was pregnant. Certain areas of the park involve far more stairs than others, and being able to trade out of those shifts relieved her immensely.

There is a financial dimension too. Trading and giving away shifts helps cast members pick up enough hours to make rent.

That matters especially here because nearly 60% of the unit’s workers are part-time.

Where Wages Stand

Pay is another core issue in these negotiations.

The start rate for parade and pageant helpers is $26 an hour. The start rate for stage scheduling assistants is $28.25 an hour.

Per the union, Disney has proposed no pay increase in the first year of the contract.

Jakary says the company is continuing to provide annual increases to union workers as negotiations progress.

This Has Been Going On Since 2024

These are not fresh negotiations that started last month.

In October 2024, the 1,700 employees, known as Magic United, began bargaining for their first contract. They have still not reached an agreement with Disney on key issues.

According to the union, the two sides have been going back and forth on several matters, including health and safety concerns.

Nearly two years into first-contract bargaining without resolution is a long time, and it puts the current proposal in context.

Why Fans Should Pay Attention to What is Happening to Performers

There is a practical concern buried in this beyond the labor dispute itself.

If terms get worse, some performers will leave. That is not speculation; it is how employment works, particularly in a field where the people doing it often have other performing options and a limited window to pursue them.

Entertainment at Disneyland is not interchangeable staffing. Experienced performers know how to work a crowd, how to handle an overwhelmed child, and how to keep a parade moving when something goes wrong. That knowledge walks out the door with them.

The union plans to keep negotiating and has circulated a petition asking people to show solidarity with Magic United. More than 1,600 people have signed it.

We will continue to follow these negotiations as they develop.