Visitors to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, may soon be greeted by picket lines as the main union representing the park’s 14,000 cast members prepares to hold a strike authorization vote amid contract negotiations.
The showdown comes as Disneyland cast members continue to publicly air their dissatisfaction with their wages, saying Disney executives live like kings while they struggle to make ends meet. They also claim management has retaliated against them for wearing union badges while at work.
This violent conflict could potentially affect attendance at Disney Parks in the future, and could become a major embarrassment for Disney.
The strike affects nearly half of the cast members at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney, the company said. report from Orange County RegisterThe Master Services Council, which represents 14,000 Disneyland employees in four unions, announced Tuesday that a strike authorization vote will take place next week.
The results of the strike authorization vote are expected to be announced by July 20th, after voting closes.
“We know how important we are to Disney, so we won’t accept less than we deserve,” the Disneyland unions said in a joint statement this week. “The theme park’s profits are the result of our hard work to make a trip to Disneyland a magical experience for our guests.”
A strike would wreak havoc on the Disneyland visitor experience.
That’s because the strike will affect many cast members who work in customer-facing jobs, such as ticket takers, parking attendants, streetcar drivers, ride operators and store workers.
The strike would be Disney’s latest PR setback.
The company is still recovering from a devastating culture war with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) over the state’s Parental Rights in Education Act, which bans radical homosexual and transgender indoctrination in schools.
Disney recently dropped most of its lawsuits against Florida and announced it would invest $17 billion in the state, including building a fifth theme park.
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