Despite Postponement of Opening Day, Disneyland Reaches An Agreement With Worker’s Unions
Last night we here at MickeyBlog shared the BIG new that Disneyland Resort had made the decision to postpone the reopening of its theme parks and resorts next month. The reasons given were that California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a delay signing off on Disneyland’s reopening plans while COVID-19 cases continue to spike in the state. Another reason was cited was the failure to reach agreements with local unions that support Disneyland Cast Members.
According to a recent post in the Orange County Register, it looks like a resolution has been reached in the second area. The piece says that a union representing 11,000 cast members has reached an agreement with Disney on bringing employees back from furlough.
Disney has apparently signed agreements with 20 cast member unions to bring employees back to work according to an official statement released from Disney. Within the agreements are details about the steps being taken, including the implementation of safety protocols to reopen the parks and to get cast members back to their jobs in a safe way.
Disneyland has been closed since mid-March when COVID-19 really started to spread across the country. As we previously reported here at MickeyBlog, Disney proposed reopening the theme parks on July 17th (with government approval) but has since delayed indefinitely. That being said, Downtown Disney will still open as planned on July 9th. Disney will also postpone the reopening of their onsite hotels until further notice.
At least 28.000 of Disneyland Cast Members are also union members. That’s out of the 31,000 cast member at the Anaheim theme parks which highlights the importance of working with the Unions to ensure a safe reopening of the theme parks. Unions involved in these negotiations include Teamsters Local 495, United Service Workers West and United Food and Commerical Workers Local 324.
According to the Orange County Register, one of the agreements reached was that Disney will offer two weeks of sick pay for Cast Members that have been confirmed as having COVID-19. Under the agreement employees will be required to conduct an at-home COVID-19 assessment before coming into work and will be provided with a thermometer. Cast members working less than six feet away from visitors will also be given plastic face shields to wear.
Before yesterday’s announcement that the theme parks would not reopen as planned, Disneyland had already begun recalling workers. Cast members concerned about health and safety concerns were all given the ability to decline the first recall notice and continue to remain on furlough with benefits as part of the union agreement. However, if employees decline the second recall they must go on an approved leave of absence or face termination.
The union agreement also requires that all full-time and part-time cast members MUST be called back to work before Disneyland’s college program is reinstated.
One of the unions that represent employees, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324 drafted a letter to Disney demanding that further health and safety measures be implemented including:
- On-site COVID-19 testing for employees
- Company protocols for enforcing the mandatory mask policy with visitors
- Employee procedures for handling confrontations with irate visitors who refuse to wear masks
- Extra cleaning protocols following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis by an employee
In addition, the Coalition of Resort Labor Unions actually sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom to try and stop Disneyland from reopening on July 17th out of concern for the safety of their union members. CRLU and Unite Here Local 11 are calling on some 17,000 cast members to protest the reopening of the parks and are hosting a Disney Caravan of Safety event this coming Saturday (June 27th) which is expected to circle both theme parks.
This is a story that we’ll continue to follow closely here at MickeyBlog. Readers are encouraged to keep checking in with us for the latest Disneyland news and updates.
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Source: Orange County Register