Disneyland Paris staff call strike

Unions to walk out as theme park opens 20th birthday celebrations

STAFF at Disneyland Paris have called a strike this weekend that could take the shine of the theme park's 20th birthday party celebrations.

Unions called the strike for today and tomorrow in a dispute over a pay rise - they have demanded a 4% increase while the company, Euro Disney, has offered 1.5%.

Disneyland Paris marks its anniversary on April 12 but starts two weeks of celebrations tomorrow.

Euro Disney president Philippe Gas said the strike was "unjustified" as the company had increased pay by 11% in total over the past three years. However, the CFDT union replied, saying pay had previously gone up as the result of staff going on strike.