Walt Disney World cast members will get COVID-19 testing after a dispute about cast safety fought by the actors Union. Florida will begin providing COVID-19 testing for Walt Disney World cast members this week, ending a nearly two-month dispute with Actors’ Equity Association, a union that represents stage actors at the park. According to Disney, the testing site will be run by the Florida Division of Emergency Management and will be located on Disney property, though not in the park. Testing will be available to Disney employees and visitors, as well as Florida residents.
According to Kate Shindle, president of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union has signed a memorandum of understanding with Disney for hundreds of actors to return to work. The union began pushing Disney World to offer testing for its members in late June, before the park’s July reopening. Disney asked several hundred Union actors to return to work in July, but they refused to provide testing at the time. Those actors could not get back to work until the dispute was resolved. The Union claimed that Disney “retaliated” against its members over their demand for regular Covid-19 testing for employees. The Actors’ Equity Association represents about 750 actors at Disney World. Actors had to battle the broken Department of Economic Opportunity system to survive.
Disney officials said in a notice to its workers that there would be a dedicated testing lane for its workers and their families, and that reservations could be made for testing starting Thursday August 17, 2020. “As a reminder, testing is voluntary and cast members will not be paid for testing time,” the notice said. The testing center will be located outside the Disney Maingate Complex in Kissimmee, Florida, and will be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The tests will be administered cast member’s vehicles, and results will take three to five days.
Disney said Tuesday August 4, 2020 that it lost $4.72 billion in the three months that ended June 27, 2020 compared to a profit of $1.43 billion in the year-earlier period. Disney could be on track to lose around $1 billion in earnings before interest and taxes each month from its parks being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Disney Theme park projects are likely to be canceled due to the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.