Mickey and the Teamsters

A Fight for Fair Unions at Disney
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-0-8130-8030-7
Verlag: University Press of Florida

Buch, Englisch, 160 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 228 mm, Gewicht: 236 g

Behind the costumes, life isn’t always magic and fairy dust for the people who play the iconic characters of Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Cinderella at Walt Disney World. In a surprising tale of corruption alongside activism, Mickey and the Teamsters reveals the little-known story of Teamsters Local 385, the union that represents these performers. It spotlights Donna-Lynne Dalton, a former cast member who stood up for other Disney performers against deep-rooted problems in the union that was supposed to protect them.

Journalist Mike Schneider, who covered the story as it unfolded, includes exclusive interviews with labor leaders and workers at the park, detailing how the union prevented its members from leaving, severely mismanaged union business, and promoted a culture of hostile leadership. Members of the Teamsters local felt that they no longer had a voice, fearing devastating consequences if they spoke up. But Dalton brought the issues to investigators in an act of whistleblowing that threatened her livelihood. In return, the local union fired Dalton and began harassing her and other union members who opposed its leaders. The story escalates as Schneider describes protests by the Disney performers and the interventions of James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.Mickey and the Teamsters offers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the hidden struggles that surround Disney World, which employs the largest single-site workforce in the United States. Through the efforts of Dalton and others to reform their union and improve the lives of employees at the workplace they loved, Schneider shows the importance of individual and collective action to hold unions accountable and preserve their potential to do good.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schneider, Mike

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Gewerkschaften, Industrielle Beziehungen
• Rechtswissenschaften Arbeitsrecht Tarifvertragsrecht, Arbeitskampf- und Schlichtungsrecht
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Regional- & Stadtgeschichte

Über Autor(innen)

Mike Schneider is a journalist for the Associated Press. He has lived in Orlando, Florida, since 1997, reporting on Walt Disney World and the tourism industry.