Disneyland’s Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy want to join a union

Disneyland employees who perform as various Disney characters at the theme park are seeking to join the Actor’s Equity Association, which represents everything from Broadway actors on Broadway to strippers in Los Angeles.

Disneyland employees who perform as various Disney characters at the theme park are seeking to join the Actor’s Equity Association, which represents everything from actors on Broadway to strippers in Los Angeles. The union said on Tuesday that about 60% of the 1,700 Disneyland employees in the characters and parades departments have signed cards seeking a union representation election. Performers doing the same work at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, are already in a union and have been for years. And until recently the Disney World performers were paid more than their Disneyland counterparts, according to the union. The union contract reached between a coalition of unions and management at Disney World last year pays the performers a minimum hourly wage that ranges from $21.30 to $23.00, according to the union. The Disneyland performers had been getting $20 an hour until the union organizing drive began late last year. The minimum pay went up to $24.15 an hour at the end of last year, according to the union. But the cost of living is significantly greater in Orange County, California, where Disneyland is located, than in Orlando. According to data from the Council for Community and Economic Research, the cost of living is 50% greater in Orange County, California. Housing costs, which are more than twice as expensive, are the primary reason, but prices are higher across multiple categories. There are more than 21,000 Disneyland employees, who are referred to as cast members by the company, who are represented by more than a dozen unions. Those unionized jobs include everything from retail and food service workers to security guards, hair and make-up artists and pyrotechnic workers. But not the performers who dress up as characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy and interact with visitors.