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Unionists at Medieval Times Castle in Buena Park, California, launched a surprise strike against his employer last Saturday afternoon, just before his second performance of the day. The dinner theater chain managed to put on a show, but there was serious disruption as workers headed for his picket line.
According to his four workers at the castle, the Medieval Times replaced the show’s yellow knight with a horse trainer before the performance. Such replacements are usually not trained for the dangerous jousts and combat stunts that knights perform when fighting for the honor of their queen. In medieval-era shows, there is a standard moment when the Chancellor orders all the knights to leave if they consider the danger of combat too great. A perfunctory overture that brave knights always refuse. However, in this case, according to Huffington Post staff, the deputy knight accepted the prime minister’s offer and fled the arena on horseback, never to return.
So the jubilant people were assigned a Yellow Knight without a hero to cheer for.
“This part of the show is standard, but no one can walk away,” said Erin Zapsik, a stunning performer who was outside when the show was on.
Zapcic’s statement was corroborated by another worker who was at the castle at the time. The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not under union protection, said the company has hired workers from other departments to act as “squires” for the show and to support the knights in the arena. This role requires working close to horses. One of his spare Squires, they recalled, was running around the sandpit in his running shoes.
“It was not a safe environment,” said the worker. The company soon brought in other trained knights and cast members from far-flung castles to replace them and to keep Buena Park’s schedule on track. Striking workers saw some of their replacements arrive with luggage towed. (The Medieval Times has nine castles in the United States and one in Canada.)
Julia McCurdy, another impressive artist, said the company must have gone to great lengths to find a successor.
“I see them spending thousands of dollars to fly people out of other castles, stay in hotels, pay per diems to cover our shifts…that money goes to our It could easily have been used to make a living.” Wages, that’s what we’re after,” McCurdy said. Medieval Times employees are asking the company to pay them more, with many saying about $18 an hour or less — the amount they say reflects their education and the high cost of living in Southern California. However, union members went on strike over the company’s unfair labor practices, accusing management of not negotiating in good faith and illegally trying to silence them.
Workers who strike for unfair labor practices generally receive more legal protection than those who strike for economic reasons, and are less likely for employers to permanently replace them. It Is difficult. The Buena Park workers were his second group of workers to form a union from The Medieval Times last year, after a successful union campaign at the company’s castle in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. (The Medieval Times operates a total of nine castles across the United States.)
The chateau’s food and retail workers are non-union. Many workers in the castle’s stables department, who are part of the union, have chosen to continue working during the closure, employees told The Huffington Post. However, more than half of the negotiating units chose to join the picket line. Zapcic said some workers from other departments joined the picket line during holidays and breaks. “More people went with us than we expected,” said Jake Bowman, knight of the castle. “There was a lot of fear that we would be alone.” But with the community supporting us, it gives a lot of people the confidence to make it through.”
Bowman said the “final domino” before the strike was due to the company’s decision to target his social media accounts.
Last year, the Medieval Times sued the labor union, the American Guild of Variety Artists, for infringing on the company’s trademark for its campaign name Medieval Times Performers United and its medieval logo. Most recently, the company appears to have escalated a trademark dispute by trying to silence his TikTok and Facebook accounts in the Buena Park negotiating squad.
As HuffPost reported last month, the union recently learned that his TikTok account had been suspended following an intellectual property complaint. TikTok did not respond to repeated requests for comment from HuffPost.
“There was a lot of fear that we would be alone, but with the community supporting us, many give us the confidence to make it through.”
– Jake Bowman, Medieval Knight of Buena Park
The Medieval Times CEO, Perico Montaner, also apparently filed an intellectual property claim with Facebook regarding his Buena Park account for the union. Facebook’s parent company Meta told the Huffington Post that one of the union’s posts was mistakenly deleted but was later restored. declined to comment.
The American Guild of Variety Artists has accused Medieval Times of engaging in unfair labor practices in both a lawsuit and an apparent attempt to delete its social media accounts. Labor law prohibits employers from colluding to retaliate against workers who engage in so-called “protected joint activities.”
Zapcic said the Medieval Times silenced workers’ supporters by hiding comments under his media posts on the company’s social media when commentators asked the company to negotiate for a pay rise.
The Medieval Times did not respond to a request for comment on the strike or questions about its treatment of staff during the strike.
“We knew for some time that things needed to be escalated, but when they actively silenced us and our supporters and fans, we took this up a notch. “It’s a busy week in terms of timing. Valentine’s Day is a huge revenue stream [for the Medieval Times]. If you’re going to do it, you have to do it now.” It seemed like
Sparring with employees on social media can be a dangerous game for any employer. His AFL-CIO at the Trade Union Federation put together his TikTok on the Medieval Times trademark allegations. This may have helped drive union supporters to the comments section of the company’s social media posts. At some point, the company apparently dropped the @medievaltimestherealone TikTok name in favor of a new name, @medieval.times.official.
After rumors of TikTok’s ban spread, comedian Ben Palmer reached out to Medieval Times staffers and asked if there was anything he could do: Palmer told him he’s on TikTok and he has 3.7 million people. has followers. Palmer realized he could still get the TikTok name from the old Middle Ages. We stand up against the overlord. ”
New Medieval Times TikTok: Tiktok.com/@medievaltimestherealone My live comedy show dates: Tucson, AZ – 2.18 Syracuse – 3.1 NYC – 3.2 Dallas – 4.7 4.8 Richmond – 4.19 Chicago – 4.26 Sacramento – 5.23 San Francisco – 5.24 Blair, CA – 5.25
Palmer summed up the Medieval Times management team of the TikTok blow-up, which had garnered more than 660,000 views as of When asked about his decision to jump into medieval battles, Palmer told The Huffington Post in an email that he often trolled companies he believed to be abusing workers and previously owned Starbucks. on strike.
“I help my employees make a better life for themselves and fight the needless corporate greed that leads to unnecessary suffering,” he said.
Regarding the possibility of acquiring his traditional TikTok handle for the company, Palmer said:
The Buena Park strike has ended indefinitely and workers have vowed to stay on the picket line until the company stops the alleged unfair labor practices. I held a negotiation meeting with management at the same hotel where I was staying.
Zapcic said the strikers urged customers not to cross his line of castle pickets. She said many people were unaware of the industrial action and were upset to hear that cast members had been replaced. and offer a refund.
Castle Her Buena Her Park, as well as Medieval Times in New Jersey Her Castle workers attempt to negotiate the first union contract. They are not currently on strike, but Marcus de Vere, a Knight of New Jersey, said he was inspired by his comrades across the coast.
“I am very proud of her. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that and they are just as fed up as we are,” de Vere said. “You are just telling the truth. What is this company afraid of?”
Friday afternoon. In contrast, his TikTok itself, a generic company, attracts thousands of attentions.
