Disneyland cast members to vote on strike authorization

Four unions representing 14,000 cast members at the Disneyland Resort have scheduled a strike authorization vote for next week after filing a series of labor charges against the theme park in May.

The represented employees, whom Disney refers to as cast members, include food and commercial workers employed throughout the theme park resort. Since April, they have been negotiating a new contract with Disney, seeing wage increases, safety improvements and more.

The unions involved are the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 83, the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West, the Teamsters Local 495 and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324.

In May, the union representatives said they filed unfair labor practice charges against Disney on behalf of the 14,000 cast members for “unlawful discipline, intimidation and surveillance of union members exercising their right to wear union buttons at work.”

The National Labor Relations Board is currently investigating the charges.

“We won’t accept less than what we deserve because we know our value to Disney. The theme parks’ profits come from our hard work making a trip to Disneyland a magical experience for guests,” the Disney Workers Rising Bargaining Committee said in a statement.

“By undermining our rights, Disney has only made harder our fight to help our guests and keep our parks safe, which is why we are compelled to take a vote next week on whether to authorize a strike after our contract expired.”

The latest strike authorization comes during Disneyland’s busy summer season and after Disneyland cast members, particularly those who work in the resort’s Characters and Parades departments, announced their intent to unionize in February.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Disney theme park workers haven’t walked off the job since a major strike in 1984, which lasted 22 days.