A celebrated union initiative between showmen and stable workers at the Buena Park Castle in Medieval Times has come to an end.
The American Guild of Variety Artists, the union that supports workers organizing at Buena Park and another New Jersey location of the popular themed dinner theater, filed paperwork seeking its support.
The move came after stakeholders at both locations supported petitions calling on the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election to remove AGVA as union representative. They filed their petitions to deregister the union, receiving free legal counsel from the National Right to Work Foundation, a conservative, anti-union group that hailed the union's withdrawal as a victory.
“AGVA union officials treated each Medieval Times castle as their personal fiefdom, but their actions led to an uprising by the rank-and-file they supposedly 'represented,'” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation.
AGVA said in an emailed statement that as contract negotiations progressed, a large portion of Medieval Times employees who voted to be represented by the union left Medieval Times, making it difficult for the union do to continue their role.
“Without the initial support we began with and circumstances beyond our control, it was impossible to continue,” the union said, noting the effort began two years ago at the Lyndhurst, New Jersey, site began almost two years ago in Buena Park. “It is with a heavy heart for those seeking industry-standard working conditions and wages that we have sent a letter of disinterest.”
The two Medieval Times dinner theaters were part of a wave of organizing in recent years in workplaces not traditionally represented by unions, such as strippers at a North Hollywood bar and baristas at Starbucks.
Workers involved in the union say they faced intimidation and retaliation from managers during their nine-month strike last year and in recent months, forcing many to leave the company and the circle of workers leaving the union support, shrank.
Medieval Times did not respond to a request for comment.
Erin Zapcic, who plays a queen at Buena Park Castle and served as a union steward, said Medieval Times has illegally swapped workers' shifts in recent months and subjected them to tedious menial labor – such as shoveling horse manure for hours at a time
“Medieval Times acted as a king ruling over his kingdom throughout its 40-year history. “It was never accountable to anyone and used a lot of intimidation to get people to fall in line,” Zapcic said.
Of about 27 employees who returned to work in November after the strike, fewer than five remained employed at Medieval Times, she said.
Zapcic said that Medieval Times launched a hiring spree during the strike to replace striking workers and keep the shows running, and that it was largely these new hires that supported the petitions to delicense the union.
“I'm heartbroken. “I've put my entire self, every ounce of passion and energy into this fight for the last two years,” she said. “We really just wanted to have a voice in the workplace.”
“The union is pretty much dead at this point,” said William Hainsworth, 55, a former casting manager at Buena Park Castle who was fired by Medieval Times about a year ago and claims in a pending lawsuit that he was wrongfully fired because he had spoken out loudly in favor of the union.
“I have no regrets,” Hainsworth said. “There’s a lot of shady stuff going on.”
Buena Park Medieval Times workers voted to unionize in November 2022, citing low wages and a desire to improve working conditions, including better treatment of the animals involved in the show.
In February last year, workers went on strike when wage negotiations failed during contract negotiations.
During the strike, workers said they experienced anti-union tactics from the company and violence from supervisors on the picket lines, and workers filed multiple complaints of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board.
Lawmakers called out the Medieval Times for its alleged union busting, while New Jersey's Democratic senators went after the Metal Times. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker sent a letter last May calling on the company's CEO, Perico Montaner, to stop anti-union activities and negotiate in good faith with workers in California and New Jersey. But further negotiations stalled.
In November, Buena Park castle workers returned to work, ending their nine-month strike without a contract agreement.
When they returned to work, Medieval Times refused to reinstate three of the striking workers, accusing them of “misconduct during the strike,” the union said. Among those workers was Jake Bowman, a knight and vocal union activist who had made allegations of horse abuse at the castle.
The union at the time called the company's decision “blatant, unlawful retaliation.”
Bir yanıt yazın