Sept 12 (Reuters) - The National Labor Relations Board

has ruled that a small group of performers who portray "Pirates

of the Caribbean" characters in a show at Disneyland can vote on

whether to join an existing union of cast members in other

productions at the park.

The board in a decision issued on Wednesday said the group

of about 20 workers in the show Fantasmic! had enough in common

with other unionized performers at the California theme park to

join them for the purposes of collective bargaining.

The decision reversed an NLRB regional director in Los

Angeles who ruled last year that the performers could form their

own bargaining unit with the American Guild of Variety Artists

but not join the larger existing unit. After that decision, the

workers voted 13-0 to unionize.

Disney and the union did not immediately respond to requests

for comment.

In July, unions representing 14,000 Disneyland employees

reached a tentative agreement with Disney on a new three-year

contract, thwarting a threatened strike.

Fantasmic!, which is hosted by Mickey Mouse, features ships

floating down an artificial river on which performers reenact

scenes from classic Disney movies.

One of the ships is made to look like the Black Pearl, the

pirate ship featured in the five Pirates of the Caribbean films,

and performers portray characters including Captain Jack Sparrow

and Elizabeth Swann.

The union petitioned to represent the workers in late 2022.

The NLRB regional director last year found that the Pirates

performers have distinct job functions, supervision, and

training and do not interact with other performers in Fantasmic!

or other shows, including ones based on the Lion King, the

Avengers, and Toy Story.

Despite winning the election, the union had asked the board

to review the decision and rule that the performers shared a

"community of interest" with the existing bargaining unit, which

includes singers, ice skaters, dancers, comedians, acrobats and

circus performers, among others.

Forming small bargaining units can be an important first

step for unions attempting to organize a larger non-union

workforce. But when a workplace is already unionized, as

Disneyland is, unions typically prefer to have larger units with

more bargaining power.

The board on Wednesday acknowledged that there were some

differences in the working conditions of the Pirates performers

and others, but said the regional director was wrong to find

that they outweighed the similarities. In some respects, the

board said, all of the performers at Disneyland have the exact

same job duties.

"The specialty performers lip-sync, perform choreography,

embody the mannerisms of Disney characters, engage in acrobatics

and stage swordplay, perform on heights with and without

harnesses, and more," the board said.

The board sent the case back to the regional director to

schedule an election.

The case is Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc, National

Labor Relations Board, No. 21-RC-306324.

For Disney: Aaron Zandy and Bret Yaw of Ford Harrison

For the union: Benjamin O'Donnell of Gilbert & Sackman

Read more:

Disney, unions reach tentative pact, avoiding strike at

Disneyland

Disneyland character performers announce plans to unionize

Disneyland not 'happiest place' for workers, wage lawsuit

claims

Key union organizing tactic backed by U.S. labor board

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)