Walt Disney World will begin paying a starting wage of $15 an hour in less than three years if a new agreement is approved by workers next month.
The company and a coalition of unions reached the tentative deal late Friday after a year of negotiations.
Disney's unionized workers will vote in early September on the proposal to raise the starting minimum wage from $10 to $15 an hour by 2021.
The deal covers about half of Disney World's 70,000 workers in metro Orlando.
If approved, it could have a big impact in the theme park mecca since Disney tends to influence what other Orlando tourism businesses pay their workers.
Disney last week offered to pay full tuition for hourly workers who want to earn a college degree or finish a high school diploma.
Disney initially will invest $50 million into the “Disney Aspire” program and up to $25 million a year after that.
Other large corporations have begun paying tuition for workers in a job market with low unemployment.
In May, Walmart said it will offer workers the chance to get a college degree at three universities with online programs.
Disney is rolling out its program in phases, with the first limited to online classes. It is being administered by Guild Education, the same firm operating Walmart’s program.
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