A pair of Medieval Occasions knights from the corporate’s Toronto fortress have been headed to Southern California earlier this week when their inter-kingdom journey apparently hit a snag.
The 2 knights and a 3rd Medieval Occasions employee have been turned away by the Division of Homeland Safety as a result of they lacked visas to work within the U.S., in line with an worker on the Toronto fortress who spoke on situation of anonymity for concern of retaliation.
The Canadians have been apparently on their strategy to the dinner-theater chain’s fortress in Buena Park, California, the place employees have been on strike since Feb. 11. With most of the fortress’s common performers on the picket line, the work stoppage has compelled the corporate to fly in knights and solid members from elsewhere to maintain its present schedule on monitor.
The union representing the Buena Park employees, the American Guild of Selection Artists, accused the corporate of flouting immigration regulation in an effort to undermine the strike. The union mentioned in an announcement that it had obtained “affirmation” in regards to the incident involving the Canadians, however declined to elaborate.
“Medieval Occasions has been bringing in scab performers from their different castles to maintain the present going,” the union mentioned. “They've tried to illegally import ‘knights’ from their Toronto, Canada fortress.”
Medieval Occasions, which has 9 U.S. castles and the one in Canada, didn't reply to a request for remark.
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Safety, which is a part of DHS, mentioned the company wouldn't talk about a specific case for privateness causes. “If a traveler is presenting themselves for employment within the U.S., they would want to acquire the suitable visa,” the spokesperson mentioned in an electronic mail.
Based on the worker on the Toronto fortress, the Canadians en path to Buena Park had introduced a few of their gear to the U.S. and advised DHS officers they have been within the nation for coaching.
The Medieval Occasions employees in Buena Park unionized final November, following their fellow performers on the Lyndhurst, New Jersey, fortress, which unionized 5 months earlier. Medieval Occasions tried to discourage each teams from organizing, and initially employed an anti-union marketing consultant at the price of $3,200 a day to fight the marketing campaign in New Jersey.
Employees on the two castles are actually negotiating their first contracts, which generally is a notoriously troublesome course of. The Buena Park staff walked off the job final month accusing Medieval Occasions of bargaining in unhealthy religion and making an attempt to silence them on social media.
The corporate beforehand sued the union alleging trademark infringement over the identify the employees had adopted, Medieval Occasions Performers United, and its Center Ages-themed brand. Extra just lately, the corporate seems to have gotten the Buena Park union’s TikTok account banned following an mental property criticism, prompting the February walkout.
The strike consists of knights, squires, queens and different members of the present solid. The union mentioned greater than half the employees within the bargaining unit selected to go on strike, although others have opted to cross the picket line and proceed working, significantly those that work within the stables.
Knights who're educated to carry out harmful jousting and fight stunts and obtainable to exchange placing employees aren’t precisely in considerable provide as of late. As HuffPost reported final month, Medieval Occasions struggled to maintain its present on monitor instantly following the walkout, substituting a horse coach for one of many present’s knights.
The coach rode out of the sector earlier than the fight portion of this system started.
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