As contract negotiations continue between Worlds of Fun park administrators and the park's unionized maintenance workers, Worlds of Fun leadership said the park and workers are close to reaching an agreement.
All 58 maintenance workers at the Kansas City amusement park complex -- including Oceans of Fun and Worlds of Fun Village -- are unionized with SEIU Local 1. The group, which includes electricians, mechanics, ride operators and painters, voted on Oct. 3 to authorize a potential future strike.
The workers' last contract expired on Feb. 29. In late 2023, Worlds of Fun management indicated that it was looking to completely renegotiate the contract, according to SEIU.
Contract renegotiation began on Nov. 7, 2023, and has spanned more than three dozen meetings between workers and park management. The most recent set of negotiations began Thursday and concluded Friday.
Another, potentially final, bargaining session will take place Oct. 17.
Worlds of Fun spokesperson Brian McGannon said Friday that after this week's bargaining session, the two groups have aligned on several areas of a potential new contact. The park anticipates negotiations could conclude next week, McGannon said.
"Worlds of Fun is pleased to agree in principle on a new labor contract covering Worlds of Fun union employees," McGannon wrote in a Friday statement to The Star. "We look forward to meeting again next week to finalize terms before the SEIU submits the contract to its members for approval."
SEIU leadership agreed that this week's bargaining session represented significant progress toward a new contract. However, the union will continue to hold out to see this week's agreements represented in writing, said Chris Rak, SEIU director for Missouri and Southern Illinois.
"SEIU Local 1 and Worlds of Fun employees are pleased to have made significant progress on several important topics in contract negotiations yesterday," Rak wrote in a Friday statement. "We hope to come to agreement on a new labor contract when we return to the table on Thursday, October 17th."
Maintenance workers at the park are responsible for building and repairing the park's 100-plus rides, including seven roller coasters, 40 water slides and 21 rides for children.
They also set up and dismantle seasonal displays, along with conducting testing and doing general upkeep across Worlds of Fun's 235 acres. Workers have said that the park's maintenance team is understaffed and should include closer to 80 employees.
In discussing a new contract, workers' demands have included higher base pay, retroactive pay for work already completed and commitment to keeping union jobs. SEIU alleges that in the past months, Worlds of Fun has brought in outside contractors to do jobs covered in the contracts of unionized workers, sometimes for up to three times the pay.
Workers have also spoken about ride safety issues, alleging that park managers are slow to respond to reports of broken parts and that ride operators have been compelled to swap job duties with electricians without any additional training.