Over 14,000 Disney Cast Members Agree To Walk out of Theme Park, “Have Had Enough”
Disneyland Resort cast members have officially voted to authorize a strike.
This week has been a big one for Disneyland. On July 17, the Anaheim resort (specifically, Disneyland Park) celebrated 69 years since Walt Disney declared it open to the public in 1955.
What started with a tiny park in Southern California has blown up into an entire theme park empire, with the Disney name today stamped on six resorts worldwide: Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disney Resort.
In other words, this week, we celebrated the park that’s given millions of Disney fans worldwide decades worth of rides, characters, entertainment, and magic – none of which would have been possible without the cast members that work tirelessly behind the scenes.
But these cast members haven’t been too happy lately. In May, Disneyland Resort’s entertainment cast members (AKA the workers responsible for the magical meet-and-greets with Snow White, the hugs with Mickey Mouse, and the daily spectacle of shows such as Fantasmic! and Magic Happens) voted to unionize with the Actors’ Equity Association, giving them a platform to negotiate fairer wages and improved working conditions.
Related: Laid-Off Disneyland Workers Share Mixed Feelings About Park Reopening
The resort’s cast members have been pushing for better wages in general. Earlier this week, we saw a protest form outside the gates of Disneyland Resort as workers from all sectors of the park – attractions, merchandise, custodial, and beyond – made it known that they’re not only unhappy but struggling on their current pay rate.
As per a statement from The Disney Workers Rising Bargaining Committee, “Workers of Disney’s largest bargaining unit in California – representing a diverse set of classifications from custodians and ride operators to candy makers and merchandise clerks – entered into negotiations with the company on April 24, 2024, and are fighting for fair wages, a fair attendance policy, seniority increases and safe parks for cast members and guests.”
Since then, Disney cast members have filed “unfair labor practice charges” against Disney over claims that “14,000 workers at the resort [face] unlawful discipline, intimidation and surveillance” due to wearing union buttons (which show Mickey Mouse’s trademark white glove raised in a fist) at work. In May, the resort’s entertainment cast members also voted to unionize.
The rally outside Disneyland Resort saw off-duty cast members brandish signs emblazoned with phrases such as “Mickey would want fair pay” and “Disney, don’t be the villain.”
While security moved the protest along – and Anaheim Police Department also made their presence known – the protest did what it was hoping to achieve, which was to garner worldwide coverage and raise awareness of the discontent among Disneyland Resort’s 14,000+ unionized cast members.
Last night, a whopping 99% of these cast members took their fight for wage increases to the next level by voting to authorize a strike, as per NBC News.
That means that Disney cast members across Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and Disneyland Resort’s three hotels (Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and Pixar Place Hotel) can now walk out on the job en masse, essentially putting Disneyland Resort operations on pause.
Of course, this strike action won’t happen today – or even tomorrow. It may not even happen at all. What this means is that over 14,000 cast members are now authorized to go on strike, which will only happen if the four labor unions representing said cast members fail to reach an agreement with Disneyland Resort over their wages.
Aaron Zarate – a candy maker at Disneyland who also serves on the workers’ bargaining committee – issued a statement after the strike authorization vote, emphatically declaring that “this vote shows that the cast members have had enough!”
Meanwhile, Disneyland Resort spokesperson Jessica Good also released a statement in which she said that a strike authorization is “not unusual” while unions are in the middle of bargaining. She noted that negotiations are still scheduled between the two parties for Monday and Tuesday (July 22 and July 23).
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“We greatly appreciate the important roles our cast members play in creating memorable experiences for our guests, and we remain committed to reaching an agreement that focuses on what matters most to them while positioning Disneyland Resort for growth and job creation,” Good added.
Cast members have made no secret of the fact that they’re struggling with their current salaries. Some have claimed that they struggle with food and housing insecurity, while others have described having to pick up extra jobs to make ends meet. According to the unions, 64% of cast members spend more than half their monthly paychecks on rent.
If a strike does go ahead, this will be the first to hit Disneyland Resort in 40 years. In 1984, over 2,000 cast members – including custodians, ticket sellers, ride operators, sales clerks, and warehouse workers – picketed the resort (which, at that point, only consisted of Disneyland Park and the Disneyland Hotel) for 22 days due to wage disputes.
“It saddens me to stand outside something I love and wave a picket sign,” one cast member named Terry Stacey, who worked as a ride operator at the time, told the Register (via OC Weekly). “But I’m doing this for future park employees. I’m trying to protect their chance to work in a special place.”
Are you pro-Disneyland Resort cast members going on strike?
