MEDIEVAL TIMES FORGES AHEAD AMID STRIKE BY PERFORMERS
Labor negotiations have not taken place, but bargaining session set this week
Even as customers continue to pack Medieval Times, dozens of performers are picketing the Buena Park castle after launching an unfair labor practice strike against management last month.
The knights' and queens' cause has drawn support from local labor unions, too.
Workers walked off the job Feb. 11, claiming management had given substantial pay hikes to workers at other Medieval Times dinner theaters while their wages remained low amid unsafe work conditions.
“Morale is good,” said Erin Zapcic, who portrays a queen in the shows and is among the picketers. “We're confident we will prevail in the end.”
A group of some 50 performers and stable hands voted in November to join the American Guild of Variety Artists.
The group says management has consistently blocked its efforts to secure a “living wage” and provide improved safety measures.
Zapcic said about 30 of the newly unionized performers — including queens, trumpet players, chancellors, knights and squires — opted to walk out. Other performers decided not to strike but are still part of the bargaining unit.
An additional 150 retail workers, bartenders, event staff and administrative employees at the Buena Park castle are not members of AGVA.
The Orange County Labor Federation, which represents 97 unions and more than 250,000 union members throughout the county, supports the strike.
“We stand in solidary with the performers at Medieval Times,” said Gloria Alvarado, the federation's executive director. “They have gotten into a big fight with management in their effort to be recognized as a union. The company is doing everything it can to not negotiate in good faith.”
The shows, meanwhile, continue to attract big crowds.
Lexie Taylor, who also plays a queen in the shows, is among the nonstrikers. She said business at the venue is strong.
“We're getting 500 to 600 people for weekday shows, which is pretty normal,” she said. “But we're selling out on the weekends, and the arena seats 1,300 people.”
Dallas-based Medieval Times operates a total of 10 castle dinner theaters, with additional locations in Lyndhurst, New Jersey; Dallas; Atlanta; Baltimore; Chicago; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Orlando, Florida; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Toronto.
“We've had performers come in from some of the other castles to help out,” Taylor said. She said the teams rotate in and out.
Zapcic said management and the newly unionized employees have not had any labor negotiations during the strike, although a bargaining session is set for Wednesday.
“That was already scheduled before the strike,” she said. “The company has not called any emergency sessions during the strike.”
Attorney Daniel J. Sobol, who represents Medieval Times, could not be reached for comment.
The unionization in Buena Park came on the heels of another union victory earlier last year at Medieval Times' New Jersey castle, where the workers also secured AGVA membership.
Both castles have suffered retaliation as a result, according to Susanne K. Doris, AGVA's executive secretary-treasurer.
“After the New Jersey location voted to become part of the union, Medieval Times gave a $1-an-hour raise to employees at every castle except New Jersey,” Doris said recently. “And after Buena Park unionized, management started giving knights a 25% raise, while others in the show cast got a 15% to 20% raise. That happened at every castle except Buena Park and New Jersey.”
Doris said the Buena Park strike was launched after management blocked the employees' Facebook and TikTok pages and filed a trademark infringement lawsuit for their use of the company logo.
The employees are seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed since they aren't benefiting by selling products or services connected with the logo.
Zapcic, who has worked at Medieval Times for 12 years, said she earns $21.50 an hour, but performers at Disneyland make $30 an hour or more doing the same kind of work.
“We have knights who make $18.50 an hour, and they're falling off of horses,” she said. “A similar performer at Disneyland makes $33 an hour for 15-minute shows, with breaks in between.”
Performers at the Buena Park castle long have complained of low wages and unsafe work conditions.
Jake Bowman, cast as a knight in the performances, fractured his thumb last year when an opponent's sword came down on his hand. And Zapcic fell from her horse in 2021 just as she entered the tunnel that brought her onstage.
Alvarado said the Medieval Times employees deserve more.
“They are seeking a better quality of life, more safety benefits and salaries that would afford them a better life here in Orange County,” she said. “The strike will continue until the company is willing to negotiate in good faith.”