Disney Character Union Sues for Local Leadership
A former business agent of Local 385 is suing for local control of the local Teamsters…
We’ve been reading about a Disney character performers’ union in Flordia, whose members are looking for local control.
Back on February 3, the Orlando Sentinel’s Gabrielle Russon wrote:
A local Teamsters union that has faced accusations of bad management and dissatisfaction among members is fighting to reinstate officers, according to a new lawsuit.
Local 385′s members include Disney World costumed character-performers, Disney truck drivers, and others.
Following the complaints two years ago, General President James Hoffa appointed two associates to take control of the local in June 2019. A union spokeswoman had previously said an election would be held within 18 months.
The Local 385 member, Gary Brown, who noted that more than 18 months had elapsed since the takeover, filed a Federal complaint last Tuesday.
Today, the Associated Press updated the story, as Mike Schneider quoted Brown as saying, “The membership should have free and fair elections to choose their own leaders… As a member, all I want to do is bring democracy back to Teamster members.”
The AP also added:
Brown sued, asking the courts to declare the International’s trusteeship invalid and to order for an election for new local officers as well as for his legal fees and costs “and such other relief as may be appropriate…
In his lawsuit, Brown said if there was any dissatisfaction with the leadership, it should have been solved through elections, not a trusteeship. The lawsuit also alleges that the elections have been delayed since the Teamsters official put in charge of Local 385 during the trusteeship; Michael McElmury now wants to become an elected officer at the local and is taking time to build support for his candidacy.
We’ll update as this story goes forward.