The union effort trapped between the show's performers and the stable hands at Buena Park's medieval castle is over.
The American Guild of Variety Artists, the union that supports workers who staged in Buena Park as well as at another location of the popular New Jersey dinner theater, has filed paperwork to withdraw its support.
The move came after representatives at both sites supported petitions asking the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election to remove AGVA as their union representative. They filed their petitions to decertify the union with pro bono legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a conservative anti-union group, which hailed the union's withdrawal as a victory.
“AGVA union officials treated each medieval castle as their own personal fiefdom, but their actions led to an uprising of the bases they claimed to ‘represent,’” said Mark Meeks, president of the National Right to Work Foundation.
Over the course of contract negotiations, a significant number of Medieval employees voted to be represented by the union have left Medieval, making it difficult for the union to continue its role, AGVA said in an email statement.
“Without the original support we started with, coupled with circumstances beyond our control, it has become impossible to continue,” the union said, noting that efforts began two years ago at the Lyndhurst, New Jersey, site, and nearly two years ago in Buena Park. . “With a heavy heart for those seeking industry standard working conditions and wages, we have sent a letter of no interest.”
The two medieval 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 locations.
Workers involved in the union claim they faced intimidation and retaliation from managers during their nine-month strike last year, as well as in recent months, forcing many to decide to leave the company and reducing the number of workers supporting the union.
Medieval Times did not respond to a request for comment.
In recent months, Middle Ages illegally changed workers' shifts and subjected them to menial labor — for example, shoveling horse manure for hours in a factory, said Irene Zabcic, who plays a queen in Buena Park Castle and worked as a union steward. time.
“The Middle Ages acted as a king controlling his kingdom for 40 years of operation. They were never accountable to anyone and used a lot of intimidation to force people to obey,” said Zabcic.
Of the approximately 27 employees who returned to work in November after the strike, fewer than five remained employed by Medieval Times, she said.
During the strike, Medievale conducted a hiring drive to replace striking workers and keep the shows going, and it was largely these new employees who supported petitions to decertify the union, Zapcic said.
“I'm heartbroken. I've put every ounce of myself, every bit of passion and energy over the last two years into this fight,” she said. “We really wanted to have a voice in the workplace.”
“The union is pretty much dead at this point,” said William Hainsworth, 55, a former casting director at Buena Park Castle who was fired from Medieval Magazine about a year ago, and alleges in a pending lawsuit. He was wrongfully terminated for being outspoken in his support of the union.
“I don't regret anything,” Hainsworth said. “There's a lot of suspicious things going on there.”
Medieval Buena Park workers voted to unionize in November 2022, citing low wages and a desire for improved working conditions, including better treatment of animals participating in the show.
In February last year, workers went on strike when wage negotiations during contract talks failed.
During the strike, workers said they were subjected to union-busting tactics by the company and violence on the picket line by patrons, and workers filed numerous unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.
Lawmakers have criticized Medieval over alleged union-busting, with New Jersey Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker sending a letter last May urging the company's CEO, Perico Montaner, to stop union-busting activities and negotiate in good faith with workers in California. And New Jersey. But the negotiations continued to stall.
In November, Buena Park Castle workers returned to work, ending their nine-month strike without a contract agreement.
When they returned to work, the Medieval Times refused to reinstate three of the striking workers, accusing them of “misconduct during the strike,” according to the union. Among those workers was Jake Bowman, a horseman and vocal union activist who made allegations of horse abuse at the castle.
The union at the time described the company's decision as “blatant and illegal retaliation.”
