The Disneyland Resort parks have been in limbo since they called off reopening plans in late June. One less hurdle to overcome when they are allowed to reopen by Governor Newsom will be return to work agreements with several of their employee unions. The Orange County Register reports that “unions representing the vast majority of cast members have signed agreements that will allow Disneyland to responsibly bring back staff as soon as possible, according to Disney officials.” This is great news, but for those who long for the Disneyland parks to reopen. That excitement though should be tempered because Disney is still awaiting permission and reopening guidelines from the state of California. Just last weekend Governor Newsom stated that he isn’t in any hurry to issue reopening guidelines for theme parks.
The OC Register article further states:
Disneyland has reached return to work agreements with 11 employee unions that will allow Disney’s Anaheim theme parks to bring back their workers with a host of new COVID-19 health and safety measures in place.
To date, 11 unions representing the vast majority of Disneyland cast members have signed agreements including health and safety measures that will allow Disneyland to responsibly bring back staff as soon as possible, according to Disney officials.
Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and other theme parks in the state closed in mid-March and remain shuttered while they await guidelines for safely reopening from the state.
Disneyland has reached an agreement with Workers United Local 50, the resort’s second largest union, that will allow for food and beverage cast members to return to work, according to Disney officials.
Disneyland has reached return to work agreements with 10 other unions, including Master Services Council, Independent Employee Services Association, Craft Maintenance Council and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
https://www.ocregister.com/2020/10/14/disneyland-reaches-return-to-work-agreements-with-11-employee-unions/ (Brady MacDonald)
Disney clearly wants to reopen the Disneyland Resort parks, but has not been given guidelines or clearance from the state of California. Due to the financial impact of the forced closures, not just of Disneyland, but also from parks around the world Josh D’Amaro recently announced mass layoffs coming to the company in a Twitter post.
After Governor Newsom said in a press conference last week while the California government is working with theme park operators, there is “no hurry in putting out guidelines” for theme parks to reopen until public health goals are met. This announcement was slightly surprising because he has repeatedly said that guidelines for reopening would be coming “very, very soon” and “dynamic conversations have been happening.” It turns out that the conversations haven’t been happening and the guidelines won’t be released “very, very soon.” Disney’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pamela Hymel issued the statement below in response to Newsom.
When will the soap opera episode “When Will Disneyland Reopen?” end? That is the million dollar question. It seems as though it is very much in a two steps forward, two steps back mode. What is clear is that Disney is making progress on its side of the equation toward a responsible reopening plan for both guests and their cast members. They’re doing what they can for the time being while they wait for guidelines and permission from the state of California to reopen. In the meantime, guests are still flocking to Downtown Disney in large numbers to get their Disney fix.