Disneyland Paris Is Not The Happiest Place On Earth

Disneyland Paris officials are investigating after two park employees committed suicide in the past six weeks, under working conditions which a trade union described as “humiliating”.

The Disneyland division of French union Force Ouvriere (FO) believes the suicides are associated with poor work conditions. The first of the year was a chef who threw himself in front of a train.  Then a Eurodisney chef hanged himself at his home near Paris last Friday, on the same day he was due to return to work after a period of sick leave.  The FO stated that following the sick leave the employee was subject to “humiliating” work conditions. Another worker had threatened to kill himself the day before the suicide after being dismissed.

The union will now require Disneyland Paris to begin a health and safety,”to communicate to and listen to its employees.” FO representative Mary Lyn Lesueur has admitted that it had not confirmed a link between working conditions and the suicide. Personal problems were also a contributing factor. She added,”but it is certain that there is a real problem of management at Disney.”

Disneyland Paris directors have denied the suicide was work-related and said that it should not be made “a symbol of something it isn’t.” It added that the chef had been “highly appreciated by his managers” and well-integrated with fellow employees.

The suicide issue has become a major story in France following the revelation that France Télécom had been hit by a rash of suicides.  At least 44 staff members have taken their own lives since 2008.  Trade union leaders blamed the phenomenon on job cuts and a brutal management culture at the company.