In notices filed with the state of California, Disneyland disclosed that 8,724 union employees at the resort will be laid off and another 1,797 union and non-union cast members will be furloughed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The notices were made as part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act, and were first reported by the Orange County Register. Combined with the 2,848 layoffs of non-union employees previously disclosed by Disney, the resort will have lost more than 11,500 workers.
It was not immediately clear whether any of these layoffs are new or had been previously announced through Disney or the resort’s unions. Disney had announced in September that it was laying off 28,000 people from its Parks, Experiences and Products division, but that number grew to 32,000 in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Disneyland remains closed, having first shuttered in mid-March due to the pandemic, with stringent state guidelines and a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in California making a full reopening unlikely until at least early 2021. The resort did recently reopen shops and restaurants on Buena Vista Street in the front of Disney California Adventure, but like other California theme parks, no attractions are operating.
A full reopening of Disney World in July has not saved that resort from mass layoffs. In fact, at least 18,000 Disney World employees have lost their jobs, contrary to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ false claim that the majority of the layoffs affected the California parks.
Despite instituting mass layoffs and reporting the company’s first annual loss in 40 years, Disney executives reportedly had their full salaries reinstated in August, according to Deadline. When the reported executive pay restoration was criticized by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth, D-Mass., Disney’s sidestepped any direct denial, only telling CNBC that the letter contained “inaccuracies.” CNN later reported on a letter from Disney CEO Bob Chapek in response to Warren, which also failed to address the questions about executive pay.
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