Union members at the Disneyland Resort have voted almost unanimously to authorize a strike against the resort, the Master Services Council reported. The Master Services Council comprises four unions representing 14,000 Disneyland resort cast members. It asked its members to vote earlier this week on a work stoppage, as the unions continue negotiating a new contract with Disney.
"Disney cannot continue to silence cast members," the Disney Workers Rising Bargaining Committee said after the vote, in which 99% of union members voing voted in favor of authorizing a strike. "We are prepared to take action."
Even though union members have authorized a strike, there is no date set for a work stoppage. At the moment, the authorization simply provides more leverage for the unions' bargaining committee, which is set to meet again next week with Disneyland Resort managers to continue negotiations.
"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," Disneyland officials said. "Master Services Council's strike authorization is not unusual as part of a negotiations process, and we look forward to continuing discussions at upcoming meetings on Monday, July 22 and Tuesday, July 23."
The contract the unions had for Disneyland cast members expired June 16, while the contract for Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney cast members expires September 30.
Disneyland's cast members have not gone on strike since the fall of 1984, when about 2,000 cast members walked out for 22 days, from September 25 to October 16. But Disneyland was much smaller then - just one theme park instead of two and with no Downtown Disney shopping and dining district or Disney-owned hotels. (The Disneyland Hotel did not come under Disney corporate ownership until 1988.) Early October also would have been a low-attendance off-season back then - something that the Disneyland theme parks rarely see anymore.
A walkout of 14,000 resort cast members would cause immediate operational disruption to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. This is not like last year's Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes, when the studios - including Disney - had movies and television shows ready to go while production was stopped. That creates financial pressure on Disney to come to the table with a proposal that the unions can accept before their workers walk out.
At the same time, the rising cost of living continues to squeeze cast members, whose last pay raise now fails to keep pace above the minimum pay increases won for all workers in Anaheim since Disneyland's current deal went into effect.
Thousands of union members last week demonstrated in front of Disneyland and likely will continue other public actions as negotiations continue. But, for now, it is business as usual inside the gates as the parks continue to operate for guests.
Earlier this morning, I appeared on BBC News to talk about the strike authorization vote.
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Hopefully this vote will be enough to convince management to make a deal.