As reported earlier the three unions cfdt, CFTC and UNSA have called their members to a strike for today, December 23, 2009 as of 7:00 am over a dispute regarding (mostly) wage increases for 2010 (for details on the reason for the strike and the union demands please check out our earlier coverage). After managing to force a cancelation of “Disney Stars’n'Cars” in the Walt Disney Studios park the striking members dispersed for most of the afternoon but have now resurfaced in the Disneyland Park in time for the Once Upon a Dream Parade.
As both theme parks are packed (making it a perfect day for strike actions from the unions’ point of view) guests have been lining the parade route in the Disneyland Park in temperatures around or slightly sub zero for an hour already in anticipation of today’s Once Upon a Dream Parade featuring the seasonal Dreams of Christmas add-on staring Santa Claus on his majestic sleigh.
The striking cast members are using this opportunity as this news is being typed and are walking down the Main Street, U.S.A. from Town Square, voicing their demands in a strike march to large crowds of guests along the parade route. It needs to be awaited whether this will have an impact on the parade performance scheduled for 5.00 pm. The result of the strike? Just minutes after 5 pm, the time scheduled for the start of the parade, the park officially announced that today’s Once Upon a Dream Parade had to be cancelled!
Our on-site team reports that immediately following the announcement the guests lining the parade route in the cold weather - many of them waiting already for an hour to get a good viewing spot - started to boo and hiss. Apparently guests are extremly upset and an agressive atmosphere aimed directly at the striking cast members is taking hold. The negative reaction is clearly not limited to single guests but has taken hold of the vast majority (if not nearly all) guests as the unions destroy christmas dreams.
[...] – Strike at Walt Disney Studios Park – Strike at Disneyland Park – cfdt union (in [...]
This is totally unaceptable yes you should have the right to Strike outside the Park but never inside the parks where guests have paid to gain admission.
This is disgusting!! This is completely unacceptable! Keep your work demands OUT of the park, don’t spoil the guests’ Christmas visit to Disney! Security should’ve chucked this lot out!! >:(
we were there in morning when there were protesting outside it terrified our 8yr old daughter .
i do sympthasise with low wages but this is a place where lots of small children are and activists should take account of that.
hopefully all those photos serve to help the Disney company fire all of those castmembers that destroyed peoples vacations
Why don’t they just stand there and tell all the children walking past about Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny as they see it is their duty to ruin the illusion and magic of it all for them. Disgracefull behavior!
I am very sympathetic to their cause as most of us know, big businesses are so very ruthless, but to ruin it for the families who some have had to save up Years for a short visit, is unforgivable under all circumstances. Why should these people and their families be made to suffer, or are they just the inocent casualties of an ill fought Union led war?
There are ways and means to demonstrate their dislike for the management, but so vocally infront of children, NO. There was a reason that Unions were disbanded, crushed and ignored for so many years, and this is the reason. The way they go about voicing issues just leads to alienate the very people that they want to influence in their favour. Just a very sad outcome that will not put people off the Disney brand, just whinging unions