Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Walt Disney Company and labor unions in Anaheim have been contributing well over half of all contributions towards election campaigns that will determine the fate of a disputed initiative – Measure L - as well as the majority of seats on the Anaheim City Council, giving the two entities more say in Disney’s hometown. Measure L, an initiative that labor unions helped place on the ballot, would require large hospitality companies that receive a city subsidy to pay their workers a living wage. Disney is the largest employer and economic driver in Anaheim, with approximately 30,000 employees; its three hotels along with other hotels generate occupancy taxes that comprise 46% of the city’s $330 million general fund budget. Disney’s relationship with the city has been less comfortable since 2014, when an ACLU lawsuit was filed that gave Latino residents more say in city politics by changing the way city council members were elected. Labor unions who represent Disney workers have out-donated Disney, with $1.5 million in contributions – about 34% of campaign funds so far. Opponents to Measure L say that the higher salaries would impede new hotels from being built in Anaheim and thus affecting the construction industry and its workers.