Disney pays costumed actors, who need to follow draconian rules for long periods in the Florida sun to keep the Disney product working, little more than janitors. They apparently justify that by “you won the audition, fulfilling your inner child’s dream is enough for a prize”. Sadly, they are the only company offering “Official _That Notorious Princess_™ Actor” jobs and their IP and marketing giving an aura of prestige to the position causes the demand to stay high, so they can argue that it is the fair market price.
I hope the conditions improve now that every Mickey, Goofy and Donald can threaten to take their mask off and hold a “STOP TREATING US LIKE ANIMALS” sign while walking out of the park.
This is Disneyland in California, not Disney World in Florida.
And more to the point, Disney World in Orlando is already represented by the Actors Equity Union, and has been for years, for all the good it does them.
All that’s happening here is Disneyland performers will now be repped by the same Union as Disney World’s.
Should also be said, not every performer you see at Disney World is in the Equity union. Basically, only the ones that “perform” and/or have scripted lines, and that criteria is curiously nebulous. There are loopholes Disney exploits to hell and back in Orlando.
It does include many of the costumed actors, particularly the ones that participate in shows or do the meet and greets on Main St and such. But not all of them. Plenty of costumed people have to walk around in the Orlando heat without union representation.
The good news is, the union opened up their membership rules recently (probably why Disneyland is now joining) which may lead the way to more employees being able to join and close those loopholes.
I’d also imagine stronger labor laws in California will give the union more power in forming their Anaheim contract than their Orlando one.
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