The Disneyland Resort is moving ahead with its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for unionized employees after union negotiations broke down over the lack of similar requirements for guests.
Workers United Local 50, the union representing Disneyland employees in food and beverage, said in a Thursday Facebook post:
“We have received notice, after months of good faith negotiations on the matter, that the company will be moving forward on a vaccine mandate for Local 50 and other Union’s not currently under a mandate. Cast will receive an email with details of the mandate. The deadline will be April 11th to have verification of vaccination submitted. Accommodations for religious and/or medical reasons will be available.”
Union leaders gave additional details in the comments under the original post. Chris Shively, a shop steward with Local 50, said, “For everyone asking why we didn’t come to an agreement with Disney, we requested that they also require guests to show proof of vaccination or a negative test and Disney said no.”
Theme Park Tribune has confirmed that the mandate will only require two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Booster doses are not being required at the time.
Disney had announced a vaccine mandate for its salaried and non-unionized theme park employees nationwide in July. Unions in Disney World reached an agreement for a vaccine requirement for their members the following month, but it was later suspended when the state of Florida banned companies from enforcing such mandates.
California has no such ban. Employers can require workers to get vaccinated as a condition of their employment.
Other Southern California parks do have stricter COVID-19 requirements for guests. Due to Los Angeles County health orders on outdoor events of 10,000 or more people, Universal Studios Hollywood requires all guests aged 5 and older to provide either proof of vaccination or a negative test. Six Flags Magic Mountain follows the same rules, but only on busier days when attendance is expected to be over 10,000 people.