Mr. Newsom Goes To Disneyland: Park Reopening Hangs In Balance

ANAHEIM, CA — Disneyland Resort is forging ahead with agreements made to cast member unions, sharing the park's coronavirus health and safety measures with the people who will be on the front lines inside the favored theme park of Southern California once the gates reopen.

Disneyland has thus far amassed return to work agreements with 11 cast member unions, officials say. The resort, including hotels, has been closed for seven months amid the coronavirus pandemic. Since a failed reopening attempt in mid-July, the park has strived toward attaining a roadmap toward allowing cast members and guests to return. To date, Gov. Gavin Newsom and his office have balked at providing an action plan, which has been devastating to Anaheim businesses.

Newsom's entourage has visited Disney World to view protocols on coronavirus safety measures already in place and working. To date, no coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in conjunction with the Magic Kingdom.

"We sent our own team to the parks to get a sense of what is really going on," Newsom said in a news conference Monday.

Newsom said he wanted "folks to come back and tell me what they saw, what their own experience was because this is serious."

Following that journey, the team of experts would take a trip to Disneyland Resort and Universal Studios.

Meanwhile, Disneyland Resort is getting its ducks in a row with unions as far as a reopening.

The Workers United Local 50, for food and beverage cast members, signed the agreement Wednesday, Disneyland spokesperson said.

They join the Master Services Council, Independent Employee Services Association, Craft Maintenance Council, and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, among six others.

According to a report from the Orange County Register, the Workers United Local 50 serves Disney restaurant workers, food cart vendors, and staff at the famed Club 33 restaurant. The union says that of their 7,796 Disneyland cast members, nearly 2,900 will be laid off.

To date, the Disneyland Resort has stated that 28,000 cast members in multiple job descriptions across the United States will be laid off due to uncertainty and lost income from the pandemic closures.

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This article originally appeared on the Lake Forest Patch