ORLANDO, Fla. -- Minnie Van drivers can now join a Disney World labor union.

  • Feds: Minnie Van drivers at Disney can join union
  • Drivers shuttle Disney guests in polka-dotted vans
  • Disney World officials had opposed the move
  • RELATED: Disney World 'Minnie Vans' use Lyft app

A National Labor Relations Board official made the ruling last week, the Associated Press reported.

Teamsters Local 385 filed a petition last year to have Minnie Van drivers included in its union.

Walt Disney Park & Resorts asked that the petition be dismissed.

Disney argued that the 60 drivers who operate the polka-dotted vans were not eligible to be  represented by the union because Teamsters had waived its right to represent any worker not mentioned in its five-year contract.

The contract was negotiated in 2014.

However NLRB Region 12 director David Cohen found that under the existing bargaining agreement, Minnie Van drivers can be represented by the Teamsters, which also represents bus drivers and parking attendants at the resort.

In his decision, Cohen added that work Minnie Van drivers are required to do is "functionally the same" as that of Disney's bus drivers, who transport guests.

"The new position is part of the unit where the functions performed are essentially the same," Cohen wrote.

Minnie Van drivers are Disney World employees who drive guests around the resort as part of a service accessed using the Lyft app. The service costs $20 per trip.

Disney first announced the service last year at its D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.

The service, which was initially only available at select Disney World Resort hotels, has expanded to all on-property hotels. 

Teamsters Local 385 is part of the Service Trades Council which includes five other unions. The council represents around 38,000 employees at Disney World.

Spokespeople for Disney World did not immediately return request for comment. 

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