Cedar Point cuts pay

Editor's note: Justin Dietz is a Register correspondent representing cpfoodblog.com and @funfoodblog on X. SANDUSKY — Some Cedar Point employees will be experiencing a 25% drop in pay for the upcoming season. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Cedar Point struggled to find employees when the park began to reopen. At that point, the park increased payroll by offering to hire new employees at $20 per hour, something it promoted substantially. Pay consisted of $15 per hour plus an added $5-per-hour bonus that later became known as legacy pay. Some other seasonal employees who have worked at the park for years also received the pay increase. While pay for new hires at Cedar Point continued to fall post-COVID, employees hired under the legacy pay structure have continued to receive the hourly bonus if they returned each year up through the 2024 season. This month, however, returning employees hired under legacy pay have been notified that the $5-per-hour pay bump is going away. The Register has received several messages from employees that Six Flags, the new parent company following the 2024 merger, has cut employees' pay effective immediately. Employees are now expected to return to work at their base hourly pay. Since most of the 5,000 summer jobs at Cedar Point are considered seasonal, those employees do not earn overtime pay. Seasonal employees who chose to stay at Cedar Point dorms also pay roughly $300 to $500 per month for accommodations. Due to already low local staffing levels, Cedar Point relies heavily on the J-1 Visa program to hire seasonal help to staff the park. Hiring international workers allows the park to avoid paying taxes on their wages. In addition, since foreign workers have to be sponsored, it is much harder for them to leave the job once they have arrived. J-1 workers also pay their sponsor a fee to work in the U.S.