Universal Raises Hourly Wage To $17, Setting Pace For Parks

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Universal Orlando Resort plans to raise its starting minimum wage by $2 to $17 an hour, making it the highest-paying theme park in central Florida, just as its crosstown rival, Walt Disney World, is in contract talks with service worker unions to raise the starting hourly wage from $15 to $18.

The new wage structure, which includes increasing pay for other workers based on the new rates and their time with the company, takes effect in June, according to Universal Orlando Resort President and Chief Operating Officer Karen Irwin, who wrote to the resort’s 25,000 employees on Tuesday.

According to park officials, the starting hourly wage increase is part of a larger effort to improve worker benefits in a tight labor market, which includes increasing 401(k) matches and tuition reimbursement, adding compassionate leave, doubling the amount of parental leave, and upgrading behind-the-scenes areas for workers such as break rooms and bathrooms.

“But it doesn’t stop there; our culture seeks to forge a path forward that supports our Team Members, provides growth opportunities, and fosters a genuine sense of purpose and belonging,” Irwin wrote in the letter.

Universal Is Hiring Lots Of People At This New Wage

Universal Orlando is currently hiring for 2,500 positions throughout the resort. It plans to open a new park, Epic Universe, in 2025. The resort’s employees are not unionized.

Earlier this month, union members at Walt Disney World voted down a contract proposal covering 45,000 service workers, saying it did not go far enough toward assisting employees facing cost-of-living increases in housing and other expenses in central Florida. The company and the unions intend to resume negotiations.

Disney World service workers represented by the six unions that comprise the Service Trades Council Union coalition had been demanding that the starting minimum wage increase to at least $18 an hour in the first year of the contract, up from the $15 an hour won in the first contract.

The proposal that was turned down would have raised the starting minimum wage for all service workers to $20 per hour by the end of the five-year contract, which would have been an increase of $1 per year for most of the workers who would have been affected. Certain jobs, such as housekeepers, bus drivers, and chefs, would begin immediately at a minimum wage of $20 under the proposal.

SOURCE – (AP)