Disney Construction Division Lays Off Hundreds of Workers Due to COVID-19 Closure
According to a report that ran this afternoon in the Orlando Business Journal, Disney’s in-house construction firm is laying off a large majority of its contracted construction workers because projects have been suspended during COVID-19 closure.
The Buena Vista Construction Company (which is the construction arm of Walt Disney World) recently let the state of Florida know that 1,215 non-employee union crafters would no longer be providing services to the company effective March 15th. The letter was dated March 24th but didn’t become public until this month.
The lay-offs encompass a variety of roles including painters, landscapers, plumbers, bricklayers, carpenters, ironworkers etc. Though Disney did not comment to Orlando Business Journal on the report, the company does anticipate that work on construction projects throughout Walt Disney World resort will resume by the end of the year.
According to Tom Troffer, director of Buena Vista Construction Co., “We do not currently know how long the cessation of construction and maintenance projects serviced by the affected project workers will last, but we will continue to communicate with the union halls throughout the process and during our anticipated efforts to ramp the business back up within six months.”
As we previously reported here at MickeyBlog, Walt Disney World officially closed its gates to the public on March 16, 2018. As the Orlando Business Journal points out, the four theme parks, water parks, hotels, golf courses etc make up about 70% of the regions tourism market.
This is a story that we here at MickeyBlog will continue to follow closely. Readers are encouraged to keep checking in for the latest news and updates!
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Source: Orlando Business Journal