Disneyland’s Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy want to join a union
New York –
Disneyland staff who carry out as varied Disney characters on the theme park are in search of to hitch the Actor’s Equity Association, which represents every thing from actors on Broadway to strippers in Los Angeles.
The union stated on Tuesday that about 60 per cent of the 1,700 Disneyland staff within the characters and parades departments have signed playing cards in search of a union illustration election.
Performers doing the identical work at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, are already in a union and have been for years. And till just lately the Disney World performers had been paid greater than their Disneyland counterparts, based on the union.
The union contract reached between a coalition of unions and administration at Disney World final yr pays the performers a minimal hourly wage that ranges from US$21.30 to US$23.00, based on the union. The Disneyland performers had been getting US$20 an hour till the union organizing drive started late final yr. The minimal pay went as much as US$24.15 an hour on the finish of final yr, based on the union.
But the price of residing is considerably higher in Orange County, California, the place Disneyland is positioned, than in Orlando. According to knowledge from the Council for Community and Economic Research, the price of residing is 50 per cent higher in Orange County, California. Housing prices, that are greater than twice as costly, are the first motive, however costs are increased throughout a number of classes.
There are greater than 21,000 Disneyland staff, who’re known as solid members by the corporate, who’re represented by greater than a dozen unions. Those unionized jobs embody every thing from retail and meals service employees to safety guards, hair and make-up artists and pyrotechnic employees. But not the performers who costume up as characters reminiscent of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy and work together with guests.
“They love working at Disneyland. That doesn’t mean they don’t need enough money to live on,” Kate Shindle, president of Actor’s Equity, advised CNN. The 51,000-member union is 111 years outdated, making it one of many oldest American unions exterior of railroads.
“Everybody recognizes that Disneyland is a special place, she added. “But magic alone doesn’t pay the rent.”
The union already represents among the Disney World performers.
The firm had solely restricted touch upon the organizing effort.
“We believe that our cast members deserve to have all the facts and the right to a confidential vote that recognizes their individual choices,” Disney stated in an announcement.
Disney has struggled just lately, with continued losses in its streaming service, layoffs and different price reducing efforts, questions on the way forward for its varied media properties, and activist investor Nelson Peltz making an attempt to win two seats on Disney’s board.
But its home parks and experiences unit is probably the most worthwhile a part of the corporate, producing income of US$6.3 billion within the final three months of 2023, up 4 per cent from a yr earlier, and working revenue of US$2.1 billion, down 2 per cent from a yr earlier. That revenue represented greater than half of the general working revenue of US$3.9 billion for the quarter.
CNN’s Samantha Delouya contributed to this report
