If the Ile-de-France theme park Disneyland Paris beats all attendance
records and imposes productivity on its employees which reaches itshighest level by degrading their working conditions, they have neversuffered so much from inflation. An unprecedented social movementthroughout the spring gave voice to underlying anger since the Covid-19crisis. ---- The history of Disneyland Paris is complex. Opened in April1992, the park is one of the leading tourist sites in France. A companyemploying 15,000 people, called Cast Members, from 124 nationalities,speaking 20 different languages and exercising 500 differentprofessions. A real company which extends over more than 2000 hectaresand which makes it the leading single-site employer in France.As in many companies, the union landscape is very divided: CFDT(majority), CGT, UNSA, CFTC and CFE-CGC. Among the other unions present,but which are no longer representative, we can also cite the CNT-SO, FOand the SNS (National Entertainment Union). A strong distrust of theseunions is often expressed by Cast Members. As is often the case, thelatter are accused, rightly and wrongly, of only serving their owninterests. The most virulent criticism is for the CFDT, which we willnot hesitate to call the Home Union.Productivity and employees under pressureBecause to understand the crisis that is shaking Disneyland Paris, wemust first understand its functioning and its very particular history.The park is built on a complex and fragile financial arrangementgenerating heavy financial losses. The park has long been in deficit andit will be necessary to wait for a purchase of the assets by the WaltDisney Company in 2017 to see the figures stabilize.But since its beginnings, it has been the Cast Members who have bornethe brunt of this mismanagement. Very fast pace of work, difficultrelationships with visitors who take their nerves out on the employeeson the front line: working conditions have always been difficult. Wewear out the task physically and morally, even going so far as to commitsuicide in certain cases. And yet, we enjoy working in this unusual andtimeless setting where the smile of a child reminds everyone why he orshe got involved. It is management policy that is above all called intoquestion.With the Covid-19 pandemic, Disneyland Paris will have been closed for322 days between March 2020 and June 2021. A great period of anxiety anduncertainty is beginning.At the end of the health crisis, management is imposing a new planningsystem for a majority of operational Cast Members working onattractions, in shops or in catering. Called "selected hours", thisinvolves distributing a 35-hour week according to the needs of theteams. Thus, an employee can work days ranging from four to ten hours. Anew instability which makes the balance between private and professionallife even more difficult. Strongly opposed by an inter-union made up ofthe CGT, the UNSA and the CFTC, the measure was nevertheless imposed bymanagement. The first walkouts were organized by the CGT without successat the end of 2021. The fight then moved to the courts without achievingvictory either.Employees organize and launch strikeWhile Cast Members are asked to make multiple efforts and sacrifices,the post-pandemic figures will never have been so good, with attendanceexperiencing a sharp increase. But management sticks to its positionsand is keen not to give up anything significant. Worse, as in all othertourism sectors, recruitment difficulties are felt. Despite attractivebenefits in kind, we cannot be satisfied with a little more than aminimum wage to make ends meet, while we have a job requiring many skills.And, while unions are responding to the national call to fight pensionreform, another movement created without a union label is emerging amongCast Members.The anger first comes from the maintenance teams, where it is carried byCast Members politicized by Lutte Ouvrière. AGMs are organized and acommittee is elected. This experience of the struggle makes it possibleto mobilize other sectors to create the Anti Inflation Movement (MAI).The demands were voted on: 200 euros net general increase, theabandonment of compulsory "selected hours", the doubling of mileageallowances, double paid Sundays and an increase in the seniority bonus.Word of mouth quickly spread and Cast Members communicated via aWhatsapp group. A cohesion that the unions seem to have always dreamedof without ever having achieved it.Initially, walkouts were organized, which made it possible to cancelnumerous shows and especially the big daily parade. With the support ofcertain unions, CGT and UNSA in the lead, Tuesday May 30 saw a first bigday of mobilization. Quietly, an average of 1,500 Cast Members paradebetween attractions and hotels. A majority of visitors are understandingand support the demands. On Saturday June 3 the numbers rise to 2000Cast Members. The climate is much more tense there. Private securitymandated by management surrounds the strikers, not hesitating to useintimidation which has nothing to envy of the methods of the CRS.With an already very marked precariousness and a management that is notgiving up, the movement is losing momentum and the strike has beensuspended. The obligatory annual negotiations in August are anopportunity to put demands forward. And if these are not heard, no onedoubts that the anger expressed during these six days of mobilizationwill revive the movement.Strikes and social movements are part of the history of the Walt DisneyCompany. Every day, thousands of them work for magic, while trying tosurvive a capitalist system that crushes them.Tristan (UCL Montreuil)https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Disneyland-Quand-la-greve-devient-magique_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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