The fight for better wages and working conditions has come to an end at New Jersey’s Medieval Times Dinner Theater in Lyndhurst.
After two years of unsuccessful negotiations, the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), the union representing the castle’s workers, announced they would no longer pursue a contract.
The AFL-CIO union represents performers at theaters, theme parks, and touring shows, including the Radio City Rockettes and entertainers at Disneyland, but they could not get a deal to treat Medieval Times employees better than serfs.
Workers at the Lyndhurst and Buena Park, California castles voted to unionize in 2022.
Negotiations for a contract with Medieval Times went nowhere, despite a strike in California.
Workers in New Jersey formed the first Medieval Times labor union.
The knights, squires, show cast and stablehands at the Lyndhurst location voted 26 to 11 in favor of joining the American Guild of Variety Artists following a ballot count on July 15, 2022, according to the union. .
The National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the election, later certified the results although the company aggressively fought the unionization effort, using lawsuits and illegal anti-union tactics.
Employees at the chain’s New Jersey castle launched their union campaign to improve pay and encourage more safety at the surprisingly dangerous job.
Working at the famous dinner-theater chain comes with some unique occupational hazards. For instance, sometimes a guest who has emptied one too many goblets of booze starts banging the Middle Ages-style plates and bowls together.
Clanging the heavy dinnerware can spook the horses in the arena, endangering the knights as they joust for the queen’s honor.
It often falls to the queen herself — a mic’d-up actor on a throne above the pit — or her chancellor, Lord Cedric, to gently admonish the overzealous crowd, all while keeping in character: Please, m’lord, don’t bang the plates.
“You can hear it backstage sometimes, it’s so loud,” said Purnell Thompson, a Lyndhurst stablehand said in 2022. “We’ve had people thrown off their horses from the horses getting spooked. There’s only so much you can do to keep them under control at that point.”
Safety concerns are a big reason the employees in Lyndhurst tried to form the chain’s first union. Many workers grew discouraged by the long fight and dwindling support.
This fight highlights the challenges workers face in forming unions. While New Jersey has seen a rise in unionization efforts, winning a vote is just the first step. Companies have resources and legal options to fight back.
The AGVA says it was a “painful decision” but believes workers put up a “valiant effort.”
Federal labor prosecutors have accused Medieval Times of retaliating against a worker who raised concerns about working conditions, including “the sexual assault of employees by customers,” according to one complaint.
A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board issued the complaint against the dinner theater chain that alleges that Medieval Times interrogated workers at an Illinois castle about their union activity, illegally disciplined workers, and fired a worker who spoke up about alleged sexual assault.
The NLRB recently conducted a trial involving the social-media charges but a decision hasn’t been issued yet.
Workers at the California castle went on strike last February, saying the company was refusing to bargain in good faith. The strike was meant to pressure Medieval Times into reaching a contract but the company flew in replacement knights to fill in for those who’d walked off.
Some workers may take legal action against Medieval Times for unfair labor practices.
This case is a cautionary tale for future unionization efforts, but some workers believe it showed Medieval Times they can fight for themselves.