Disneyland cast members file for union election
Cast members who portray beloved characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck at Disneyland are looking to organize
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Disneyland cast members such as the performers who portray characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Cinderella have taken another step in their efforts to unionize.
The employees are looking to join the Actors' Equity Association (Equity), which represents workers in live theatrical performance, and the union announced Wednesday that it has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election.
A majority of Disneyland workers who play characters such as Mickey Mouse have signed on to a petition to hold a union election. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The cast members seeking to organize have dubbed themselves "Magic United," and announced their plans to unionize in February. Since then, the volunteer organizers have collected signed union authorization cards from coworkers, and a supermajority of Disneyland's 1,700 eligible performers have signed on.
The employees are seeking better pay and benefits and improved working conditions.
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Equity said that most of Disneyland's 35,000 workers are already unionized, but this effort is aimed at organizing cast members who work in the Parades and Characters department.
Minnie Mouse participates in a parade during a celebration focusing on the Walt Disney Co. turning 100 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, on Jan. 26, 2023. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The union, which represents some 51,000 professional actors and stage managers, noted that workers who perform the same duties at Walt Disney World in Florida have been unionized for decades.
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"The Cast Members who bring the Characters and Parades to life have been non-union since Disneyland Resort opened in the 1950s and have watched other workers in the park unionize all around them," said Equity President Kate Shindle. "Just eight weeks after Equity launched a campaign seeking union authorization cards, we have signatures from a supermajority of those eligible."
FOX Business has reached out to Disney for comment.
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FOX Business' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.