The cast and crew of Casa Bonita intend to unionize with Actors’ Equity Association and IATSE. Approximately 80 employees — including cliff divers, magicians and puppeteers, as well as support crew — filed with the National Labor Review Board today.
Casa Bonita – a beloved Colorado restaurant that was purchased by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone in 2021 – pairs a dining experience with high caliber performances. Those entertainers range from cliff divers and actors to puppeteers and magicians. Now those performers are looking to unionize with the same labor unions that represent those at Disneyland and on Broadway.
“We’ve learned so much throughout the process of reopening Casa Bonita, and while our love for Casa Bonita has grown deeper, so have our concerns about the work still left to do,” workers leading the effort said in a statement. “That is why we’ve chosen to unionize. We believe a strong union contract could help us solve the challenges we’ve encountered around safety, scheduling, compensation and communication. Having a document that clearly sets shared expectations – and the mechanisms to enforce those expectations – will strengthen Casa Bonita and enable us to provide the best possible experience for our guests.”
The entertainers’ chief concerns are safety from patrons that have had too much to drink, insufficient training, fair pay and benefits, and clearer communication with management.
Casa Bonita has been a greater Denver staple since it opened in 1974 but didn’t earn greater popularity until it was at the center of a “South Park” episode in 2003. The show’s creators later bought the restaurant in 2021 with grand hopes of updating the place for a reopening. The trials and tribulations of the years-long renovations were documented for the 2024 film “Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” which just dropped on Paramount+.
“Casa Bonita is the greatest restaurant in the world, so it makes sense that their entertainment workers should be represented by the greatest unions in the world!” Actors’ Equity Association Director of Organizing and Mobilization Stefanie Frey said. “We have a long relationship with IATSE, and we are so proud to stand with them, our union siblings. This sort of coordination could mean big things in the future for unionizing the entertainment industry.”
IATSE Local 7 Business Agent Max Peterson added, “Every person working in entertainment deserves the rights and protections of a union, whether you work in a bar, club, theater, arena, convention center, film studio – or the most fun restaurant imaginable! The performers and crew at Casa Bonita are vital to creating the experience that so many love, and we’re proud to be collaborating with these workers and Actors’ Equity in our shared pursuit to secure fair pay, benefits and working conditions for everyone at this revered landmark.”
