The votes at Buena Park and New Jersey castles have created a domino effect company-wide, as more castles have expressed their interest to unionize, Zapcic said.Ī call for higher wages to reflect the danger of the job Medieval Times did not contest the petitioned-for bargaining unit in New Jersey, according to Medieval Times Performers United. "The Regional Director saw through the employer's meritless arguments and correctly found that a single bargaining unit is appropriate." "Medieval Times tried to separate and divide its California workers after it agreed to a single bargaining unit in New Jersey and then lost the election by a lopsided margin," Spivak Lipton LLP attorney Nicholas Johnson said in a statement. Medieval Times did not respond to a request for comment.ĪP Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament participates in the 126th Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. Medieval Times argued that knights and squires do not share a "community of interest" with the show cast and stablehands. Medieval Times delayed the union election date by contesting that only Knights and Squires should be allowed in the union, excluding the show cast and stables department, according to Medieval Times Performers United Californiaon Aug. The Medieval Times has 10 locations across North America, including Atlanta, Ga, Chicago, Il, and Toronto, Ontario. "The company really used the time to sow the seeds of discord, create a divide within the bargaining unit, and so based off the way things were going and the people we were talking to, even though we started with a super majority of the bargaining unit, there was considerable attrition or at least so it seemed throughout the process," Zapcic said.īuena Park performers petitioned for a union election on July 22 following the vote at the New Jersey location in July, she said. The vote marks the end to a nearly four-month journey for performers at Buena Park to unionize due to delays caused by company management, she said. The vote, 27-18, was a decisive one to the surprise of some performers, including Zapcic, who plays a queen at Buena Park. The cast includes knights, squires, stablehands who handle the horses, show cast with speaking roles, and trumpeters. Medieval Times puts on two-hour performances inspired by 11 th century Spain of jousting, sword fighting, and hand-to-hand combat as guests eat a four-course meal. Low wages, dangerous working conditions, and a lack of respect from company management incited performers to fight for more job security and join the American Guild of Variety Artists, which represents some performers at Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood, said Erin Zapcic, a union organizer. From queens and knights to horsemen and squires, the performers of Medieval Times dinner theatre castle in Buena Park, California, voted to unionize Thursday after months of back and forth with the company.
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