The Casa Bonita unionization effort has reached the highest level of the Actors’ Equity Association, and the famous owners of the restaurant are facing calls to step in and end this controversy.
Just weeks after South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone released their documentary about the mind-bogglingly expensive renovation of the dinner entertainment destination Casa Bonita, the cliff divers, puppeteers, actors and magicians who make up the performance staff of the pink cathedral began the process of unionizing with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Actors’ Equity Association. Then, last month, with the Casa Bonita union push nearing a major milestone, the Lakewood, Colorado restaurant announced that it was severely cutting the hours of some performers and eliminating key roles in preparation for a Halloween pop-up event.
The Actors’ Equity Association quickly filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the reduction in roles and hours was a retaliatory tactic against the performers who were in the midst of negotiating their first unionized contract with Casa Bonita.
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Stone assured the Actors’ Equity Association that he and his business partner would never eliminate such beloved character roles as Black Bart, and the change in the performers’ work schedule was merely a temporary measure. However, earlier this week, Actors’ Equity president Brooke Shields posted a video on the Casa Bonita United Instagram page calling for Parker and Stone to approve the union contract once and for all.
When the performers of Casa Bonita first moved to unionize, they complained about insufficient training, unsafe work conditions, sub-livable wages and harassment from over-served guests that went unaddressed by management. Considering how Parker and Stone poured over $40 million into the extensive repairs and renovations to the building, the allegations that the South Park co-creators have cheaped-out on labor costs came as a surprise to Casa Bonita’s massive online following.
The Casa Bonita staff have chronicled their push to finally secure a collective bargaining agreement with management on their Instagram page, and the Casa Bonita community has been vocally supportive of the unionization efforts. One Casa Bonita performer appeared in the comments section of Shields’ post to thank the Actors’ Equity president for making the public address to Parker and Stone while expressing his gratitude for the fans’ continued encouragement.
“Thanks for the support, Brooke!” Casa Bonita entertainment lead Rob Christie wrote. “For those of you who don’t know… Casa Bonita has failed to provide a living wage and adequate safety measures for their employees, including their ‘world class’ entertainers and cliff divers who risk their lives everyday to perform aquatic stunts. Cast members experience frequent sexual and verbal harassment from guests with little recourse.”
“Over 1000 hours of labor were illegally cut from the performance team in October without negotiating with @actorsequity,” Christie continued. “Shady, inequitable, and dangerous working conditions.”
Parker and Stone have yet to respond to Shields’ request.
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