The coalition of trade unions that keeps Disney World's rides running is heading toward a strike vote. The Craft Maintenance Council, representing eight separate unions, is scheduled to vote on Thursday, November 19 on whether to authorize a strike against Disney, following members' unanimous rejection of the company's first contract offer.
The vote comes after Disney's opening proposal was unanimously voted down by the council's membership on October 13, according to WDW News Today. The outlet reports that feedback from members overwhelmingly indicated that higher wages remain the top priority heading into the next round of talks, though specific wage figures from either side have not been made public. As WNY Labor Today noted in its coverage, the council's members may be preparing to walk off the job if negotiations continue to sour.
The Craft Maintenance Council is made up of the Bricklayers, Carpenters, Electricians, Laborers, Operating Engineers, Painters, Plumbers/Pipefitters, and Teamsters unions, the same eight-union lineup WDW News Today has long identified as the coalition's membership. These are the skilled trades workers behind the scenes at Walt Disney World, with job titles that include attractions mechanic and ride and show technician, according to news.piratesandprincesses.net. Neither Disney nor the unions have said publicly how many workers the council covers, the site reports.
Contract Expiration Dates Conflict
Exactly when the prior agreement lapsed is murky. WDW News Today reports that the contract between the CMC and Disney expired on September 28, 2026, and has been extended on a month-to-month basis during negotiations. But the signed 2022 agreement itself states it remained in full force and effect from April 3, 2022 through October 3, 2026, a different timeline than the reported expiration and extension structure. The two accounts have not been reconciled.
That 2022 agreement, posted by the North America's Building Trades Unions, also recognized the council as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of maintenance employees in job classifications listed in its addendum.
Talks Set to Resume in December
Despite the scheduled strike authorization vote, a walkout isn't imminent. The unions expect to resume negotiations with Disney in December, per the same WDW News Today report. news.piratesandprincesses.net adds that it had not seen a statement from Disney responding to the planned vote.
The Craft Maintenance Council negotiates separately from Disney World's Service Trades Council, a different coalition that ratified a five-year contract back in March 2023 with about 97% of voting members in favor, according to news.piratesandprincesses.net.
A History of Close Calls
This isn't the first time Disney's trade workers have flirted with a walkout. Back in November 2000, more than 4,000 Walt Disney World trade workers were preparing to decide whether to strike during the holiday season, the Orlando Sentinel reported at the time. That council was set to vote on December 7 on whether to accept a new contract or walk the picket lines on December 22, after members had already rejected two earlier proposals.
A 2003 agreement extended the Craft Maintenance Council's contract and provided for a 3 percent raise beginning the following October, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Just months later, though, Disney World laid off roughly 100 craft and maintenance workers that July — the first such layoffs in nine years, according to the Sentinel's reporting at the time.
