Disneyland employees who play many of the theme park’s beloved characters have applied to vote to join the Actors’ Equity Association, which represents live performers across the country, from Broadway actors to Los Angeles strippers.
The group had announced a union organizing effort in February, but such campaigns too often fall short of submitting requests to hold a vote. But the union announced Wednesday that it had submitted cards signed by more than two-thirds of the 1,700 employees, seeking to have the National Labor Relations Board hold an election.
“The cast members who bring the characters and parades to life have not been unionized since Disneyland Resort opened in the 1950s and have seen other park workers unionize around them,” said Equity President Kate Shindle, referring to the “cast members.” terms used at Disney to refer to its employees.
Union organizing efforts have increased in the past year, especially in the wake of a series of high-profile contracts won by unions that provided their members with large pay increases. Those wins included contracts covering 32,000 hourly workers at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, giving them raises equal to $3 an hour late last year and increases of about 37 percent on their hourly rate. previous for 2026.
There are more than 21,000 Disneyland “cast member” employees, who are represented by more than a dozen unions. Those union jobs include everything from retail and food service workers to security guards, hair and makeup artists and pyrotechnic workers. But it does not include performers who dress up as characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck or Goofy and interact with visitors. Workers performing the same duties are unionized at some other Disney theme parks, such as Disney World.
“These artists, and the hosts, stars and trainers who create magic alongside them, know that their lives, as well as the guests’ experience at Disneyland, can be improved through collective bargaining,” he said. “They deserve a voice in their workplace and meaningful negotiations about wages, benefits and working conditions.”
Disney had no immediate comment on the presentation. But when asked earlier this week about the organizing drive, a company spokesperson said, “We support our cast members’ right to a confidential vote that recognizes their individual choices.”
Higher salaries are not yet viable
Artists in the proposed bargaining unit just saw their pay rise to $24.15 an hour from $20 an hour in January, a 20.8 percent increase. Those increases came after the organizing effort was already underway, even if it had not yet been publicly announced.
But Disney’s job market in the state is changing, as California fast food workers just had their minimum wage raised to $20 an hour under state law, so previous wage levels likely no longer exist. They were competitive.
Several of the employees who spoke to CNN before Wednesday’s announcement said that even the new higher wage level is still not a living wage in Southern California, given that many of the workers work only part-time.
Mai Vo, who is what Disney calls a “lookalike” performer — someone who plays roles showing her face, like Disney “Princesses” — currently lives at her mother’s house near Disneyland. Vo said it’s hard for cast members to afford to live alone and many have roommates.
Zach Elefante, one of the parade performers, said many performers can lose paid hours if bad weather hits, and decisions about cancellations are often made just minutes before the show starts.
But Elefante was at pains to say that the workers are not fundamentally at odds with their employer.
Elefante said that “they want to be able to work with the resort so that people are not afraid to pay rent because it started raining.”
Security concerns beyond salary
Elefante and other Disney cast members say they have a deep, emotional connection to the shows they star in, knowing they can make a story come to life in front of people young and old. Despite that, she said they feel disposable and unheard.
Union supporters also speak of health and safety concerns, such as concerns about the designs of the heavy suits many wear and about interacting with park visitors in the wake of the pandemic.
Vo said she remembers being worried by a co-worker who struggled for months with foot pain due to costume shoes, which are often shared among employees.
“Maybe things weren’t perfect at the happiest place on Earth, because I felt like my colleagues in the department weren’t happy and it didn’t make sense to me,” he said.
Elefante also described two colleagues who raised issues with the ergonomics of a new 120-pound costume, but were told there would be no changes. He said performers ended up performing in that costume for five or six years before the old version of the costume came back.
But Elefante said one of the main goals was simply for the people who work at Disneyland to have some semblance of influence at Magic Kingdom.
“There are many advantages that come along with [unionizing] and many benefits that people want to fight for. But if we got rid of all that and just kept the fact that we’re trying to have a voice at the table, this whole process would be worth it,” he said.
When asked about the concerns raised by Elefante and Vo, a Disney spokesperson pointed to company policies that said schedule changes are based on the safety of guests and employees, such as in the case of inclement weather. , and that no notice is required when that operational need is applied. He also said all cast members, whether represented by a union or not, have multiple methods for communicating safety concerns, including contacting park leaders, safety meetings, roundtables or using an anonymous hotline.
But Elefante and Vo say they believe the majority of the group is willing to vote for the union because of their concerns. The two-thirds majority signing the cards is not a guarantee that the union will win a vote; Support often wanes as management campaigns against the union in meetings with employees. But that level of support suggests it has a good chance of passing.
Vo hopes that communication between employees and managers can improve and that pay rates can increase. She said union representation would embody the same principles that she espouses as her characters when she talks to children in parks.
“Change can be scary. “This is all scary,” she said. “But if I am brave and brave enough to do it, I will do it.”