- Crisis-hit Valencia hire West Brom's Corberan as new boss
- Suriname ex-dictator and fugitive Desi Bouterse dead at 79
- Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' across world
- 32 survivors as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, Kabul says
- Liverpool host Foxes, Arsenal prepare for life without Saka
- Zelensky condemns Russian 'inhumane' Christmas attack on energy grid
- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
Disneyland workers vote in favor of strike authorization
Disneyland employees in California authorized a strike in a union-wide vote Friday, opening the door to withhold their labor from "the happiest place on Earth", the theme park's unions announced.
The unions, which represent some 14,000 Disneyland Resort employees, have been in negotiations with Disney over wage increases and other benefits since April.
Talks have stalled and tensions have grown as some employees contend Disney has engaged in anti-union practices.
Ninety-nine percent of members voted in favor of the strike authorization, according to a union statement.
It allows union leaders to decide when to call the strike, as well as its duration and terms.
This week, Disney said it was "committed" to continuing negotiations scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
If the talks go ahead as planned, the strike authorization vote gives union members new leverage in negotiations.
"A strike is always a last resort for workers, but this strong vote shows that cast members across Disneyland are ready and willing to do what it takes to stand up to Disney’s unfair labor practices and get the contract they deserve," the Disney Workers Rising Bargaining Committee said in the statement.
"Today's overwhelming unfair labor practice strike authorization vote sends a clear message to the company: 'we are stronger together and will not be divided by scare tactics'".
After last year's writers and actors strike paralyzed Hollywood, another major labor movement within Disney would be historic.
Employees at its California theme parks have not gone on strike since 1984, according to the Los Angeles Times.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Disneyland employees, also known as "cast members," gathered for a protest in a parking lot outside the park in Anaheim, a suburb of Los Angeles.
The employees complained of low wages and intimidation used by managers, prompting a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
The union claims that over 500 employees have been reprimanded, threatened or warned about disciplinary action for wearing a union pin, which depicts a Mickey Mouse glove raised in the shape of a fist.
"Last week, I saw a manager telling one of the cast members to remove her badge," Disneyland employee Ginny Cristales, 44, told AFP over the phone. "He told her that it will be on her record card... She was stressed and scared."
Cristales has worked at Disneyland for the past five years, earning around $2,800 a month -- which is not enough to cover the rent for her and her four children.
"We deserve fair wages," Cristales said. "A strike is our last resort, that we're not wanting to do. But if Disney doesn't comply and give us what we need, then we're all ready."
R.J.Fidalgo--PC