While D23 guests were inside the Anaheim Convention Center waiting on shopping virtual queues, Disneyland Resort hotel workers were outside on the sidewalk with picket signs.
We filmed the demonstration on Friday morning as it moved along the convention perimeter. Cast members chanted for fair wages for room attendants, cooks, dishwashers and the rest of the resort’s hotel operation, and pointed people toward a campaign page where members of the public can add their names in support.
Three Different Unions, Three Different Fights
The workers on the sidewalk Friday are represented by UNITE HERE Local 11, which covers hotel staff, and this is not the dispute that has been in the news for the past two weeks. The parade and character performers fighting over paid parental leave belong to Magic United, affiliated with Actors’ Equity. Different union, different bargaining table, same weekend.
The union said contract talks with Disney have produced little movement after months at the table, and that hundreds of cast members planned to take part across the weekend.
The Timing Is The Point
Local 11 scheduled the action for two windows built around the busiest hours of the fan event, from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Convention Way. That puts the demonstration directly in the path of the D23 crowds, the assembled entertainment press, and the executives arriving for the showcases at the Honda Center.
The union also planned a piece of satirical theater as part of the action, unveiling a symbolic sixth key as a critique of company philosophy. Disneyland’s operating philosophy is built on a set of keys, originally four and expanded to five with the addition of Inclusion in 2021, which cast members are trained on from their first day. Adding a sixth is a pointed joke aimed squarely at an audience that would get it.
Anaheim Has Been Here Before
In July 2024, hundreds of Disneyland Resort employees rallied outside the main entrance ahead of a strike authorization vote. That action belonged to a third grouping again, the Master Services Council, a coalition of four unions covering roughly 14,000 workers across Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the hotels. Ninety-nine percent of those who voted authorized a strike, and the company reached a tentative agreement days later. Members ratified a three year contract at the end of that month and no walkout happened.
That is the useful precedent here. A strike authorization at the Disneyland Resort has historically been leverage rather than a countdown, and the last one ended with what the unions called the largest wage increases in the resort’s history.
What This Sits Next To
The backdrop is a company in an expansion cycle. Disney announced a roughly 60 billion dollar capital plan for its Experiences division in September 2023, running about ten years, and a later filing broke that down as half for parks and resorts, 30 percent for technology and maintenance and 20 percent for cruise and other. The Anaheim resort also has its own approved long term development plan on top of that. The workers rallying on Harbor Boulevard are asking where wage increases sit inside those numbers.
Disney has not addressed Friday’s demonstration. The company has responded to previous Disneyland labor actions through resort spokespeople, and we will update this post if a statement is issued.
For anyone attending on Saturday, the second window overlaps with the run up to the Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase, so the crowds and the picket line will be sharing the same blocks again.
For the latest news and updates make sure to follow us on social media! Facebook | Twitter | Threads | Instagram
