ORLANDO, Fla. — Walt Disney World employees are still at the negotiating table with the company, insisting on higher wages for the workers. They have rallied, picketed and want those outside the theme park's gates to know the struggle it’s become for the Disney employees to make a living amid the rising cost it is to scrape by in Central Florida.

Sean Hopper, a member of the labor union UNITE HERE Local 362, is among those at the table hoping for what he calls a “livable wage.”

He has a family of three children to support on his and his wife’s Disney careers. Hopper is an attractions coordinator for Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Disney Hollywood Studios.

“At some point, it just doesn’t work anymore,” he said. He also said he regrets of the cost of living versus pay he’s taking home.

Jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry across the area have unfortunately been low traditionally, according to Rosen College of Hospitality Management’s Dr. Kelly Semrad. She’s examined the issue at length.

She emphasizes her point in that the problem touches all Central Florida residents.

“We all depend on tourism and hospitality,” she said. “We depend on the bed tax to improve our local areas. We depend upon the tourism tax to contribute to the infrastructure within our areas. So, we need to have this industry thriving. And we need the people in the industry, the employees, the workers, in order to do that."

The best way for an outsider to witness the daily struggle Hopper faces may be to ride along on his morning commute.

His family strategically lives about an hour away in St. Cloud in order to be able to afford the price of a home there, but both his and his wife’s vehicles have seen better days.

He breathes a sigh of “Yes!” after cranking twice at stoplights, a likely “issue with the transmission” on the aging Honda.

“We just had to rebuild my wife’s top end of her engine. That was another $5k,” Hopper said.

He drives to work for the pay of $15 an hour currently. Disney is offering $20 an hour, which is what he wants, however, he insists on more than the “phase in” offering the company floated, instead asking for no more than three years to achieve the $20 rate, with an immediate two dollars in the first year.

“We do the work,” Hopper said. “We bring the people into the park.”

Otherwise, Hopper says he could have some tough decisions ahead of him. He’s always loved his job. It’s where he met his wife and has had a career that his three young kids all admire. Hopper, though, is tired of scraping by eating ramen most nights so his children can have good meals and other items. That’s just one side effect of his earnings.

“We love what we get to do, but there comes to be a breaking point where, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’" he said.

Meanwhile, Disney is offering details on what the company has put up so far. A spokesperson released the following statement:

“We have presented a strong and meaningful offer that far outpaces Florida minimum wage by at least $5 an hour and immediately takes starting wages for certain roles including bus drivers, housekeepers and culinary up to a minimum of $20 an hour while providing a path to $20 for all other full-time, non-tipped STCU roles during the contract term. Our proposal also provides paid child-bonding time for eligible Cast Members. In addition to this, we also offer our Disney Aspire program that pays 100% of tuition up front for eligible hourly employees.”

The union UNITE HERE Local 737 has been studying the issue as well, surveying its members. Its October 2022 survey finds members couldn’t afford certain necessities in the last year:

• 69% didn’t have money to pay rent or mortgage
• 62% didn’t have money for food
• 60% didn’t have money for transportation

The survey found that 62% had less than $100 in savings, in the last year 45% skipped meals, 25% skipped medications prescribed by a doctor, 35% worked a second job, 39% worried about being homeless.