www.broadwayworld.com: Calling themselves “Magic United,” Cast Members who work in the Disneyland resort’s Characters and Parades departments are unionizing with Actors’ Equity Association. Equity is the national union that represents 51,000 professional actors and stage managers on Broadway and in live theatre across the United States, including the performers at Walt Disney World in Florida.
3 comments:
I was very very happy to hear that the Cast members working at Disneyland are able to join the Actors’ Equity Association. I was surprised to hear that they already represented the cast members in the Disney World in Florida. Since these actors do the same type fo job, I would have figured that if one was in it, they both would be. I’m still new to learning about how unions work. I did not know that it would be possible for the Disney Resort Entertainment to decline to recognise the union. The actors who play Disney characters and perform in the parade are such a large part of the Disney experience, it would not seem wise to jeopardize their employment. I have also heard that actors who play these characters have been treated poorly in the past. It seems that Disney can be quite strict with these people and I’m hopeful that unionization can create a safer environment for them to work in.
I have been going to disney resorts since I could remember. I am from South Florida so driving up to Orlando for the weekend was always in the cards for us if we had the time to do so. I loved the magic that every character brough and still have autograph books filled with all of the characters. I think that this unionization is extremely important and helpful for the amazing people that work at Disney. I think it is interesting to learn that resort entertainment can decline to understand the union and find it really disheartening. The people that act at a resort or in the park do very similar jobs and they should be given the same amount of privileges and safety within their jobs. I have always known that Disney is strict with what the actors can and cannot do and train them heavily so I do not truly understand why they would not want people to unionize because they can keep on making the magic come to life.
I honestly just assumed that the disney actors were already unionized. They definitely need to be. Disney doesn’t exactly have the best reputation for treating their employees well. I think it’s great that they’ve unionized. I hope the work quality at disney will begin to improve. I remember visiting Disney in Orlando, Florida this summer. I was overheating in my shorts and tshrit and there were actors in full storm trooper armor. They aren’t allowed to take off their helmets to drink water. I’m surprised they weren’t getting heat stroke. I hope they switch out their actors on a consistent and fast schedule but knowing disney, they probably do not. I can also imagine that disney actors also get harassed, or at least groped a decent bit. When dressing up as a fictional character people tend to forget that they are people. I see a lot of videos where something like that happens.
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