The American Guild of Variety Artists (AVGA) will no longer represent workers at two Medieval Times locations that voted to unionize in 2022, The Huffington Post first reported on Wednesday.
The union said the locations no longer had the necessary support to reach a collective bargaining agreement with Medieval Times, leading to the group effectively giving up on unionization efforts.
The two locations’ 2022 union votes gained widespread attention and humorous support from union backers online, but efforts to form a contract with Medieval Times made little headway.
The company unsuccessfully sued the union in late 2022, claiming workers stole its trademark by calling themselves “Medieval Times Performers United.”
Workers at the California location of the entertainment chain briefly went on strike last February due to lack of pay and fair working conditions, but found no success in contract talks. The company instead brought in replacement actors, and the strike ended after nine months in November.
Erin Zapcic, an actor at the California location, told The Huffington Post that the company did not show any intention of working sincerely in union negotiations.
“Their intention was not just to defeat us; it was to annihilate us,” Zapcic said. “I’m certain we cost this company millions of dollars [in legal costs] and they were willing to continue to spend that money to get rid of us.”
The union's failure coincides with an expansion of unions to several major national companies, including successful elections at Starbucks locations and Amazon warehouses nationwide. Organizations at those companies now confront similar challenges in securing labor agreements with their employers.
The Hill has reached out to the AGVA and Medieval Times for comment.
