Members of unions concerned about safety and health conditions organized a car caravan protest on Saturday, circling the closed park and honking horns, The Hollywood Reporter said. One truck was pulling a makeshift Mickey Mouse statue with a face-covering on it.
“Testing is a bare necessity”: Disneyland workers hold a driving protest around the Anaheim park, demanding all employees are tested before the Magic Kingdom reopens. @KNX1070 pic.twitter.com/oWFgxHeYnN
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Some Disneyland workers protest reopening plans amid pandemic - https://t.co/zb45R3LDvr
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The Coalition of Resort Labor Unions, which represents around 17,000 service members, has sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom expressing concerns over the safety of Disney’s parks and rapid reopening plans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Disneyland said in a statement, quoted by CBS Los Angeles on Saturday, that "20 union affiliates have signed agreements that include health and safety measures such as additional sick pay, reduced park capacity and face coverings for guests and cast members, allowing us to responsibly bring back our cast as soon as possible".
Disneyland said it was "incredibly unfortunate" that some unions have organized a caravan protest as the company was trying to get people back to work.
Disneyland Resort was closed in mid-March amid the coronavirus pandemic. Initial plans were to reopen the theme park on 17 July, but the state of California did not have enough time to offer proper guidelines to people in advance, so the plan fell through.
Disney plans to reopen the shopping and dining district of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, on 9 July. Meanwhile, Walt Disney World in Florida is due to reopen on 11 July.
As of 27 June, California has registered over 200,000 novel coronavirus cases and more than 5,800 fatalities related to the disease, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention data shows.
