Two Disney Housekeepers Lead Fight to Save Jobs

Many businesses around the world have been financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and the Walt Disney Co. is no exception. Disney has laid off 28,000 employees across its California and Florida theme parks, CNBC reports. However, full-time workers were not laid off as unions negotiated an agreement with Disney.

The agreement was announced earlier this month in a Twitter post by Unite Here Local 737, the union representing 19,000 hotel and restaurant industry workers. Unite Here Local 737 is also part of the Service Trades Council Union (STCU), which includes six affiliate unions representing approximately 43,000 workers. The agreement reads, “…the STCU and the Company [The Walt Disney Company] have agreed that there will be no permanent layoffs. Any Cast Members who are laid off in the future will retain their employment, their seniority, rate of pay including any scheduled increases, and the right to return back to previous job with the Company until October 1, 2022.”

According to Disney and Orlando radio station 90.7 WFME, two union leaders for Unite Here Local 737 who are housekeepers at Walt Disney World Resort fought to keep their jobs and those of their fellow workers. Carmen Arroyo, a full-time housekeeper, and Belinda Hanzman, a part-time housekeeper, told the radio station that they were furloughed since mid-March, but when Disney parks reopened this summer the women were recalled back to work. Arroyo told the radio station that her job is both security for her family and a legacy for her children. “I have to show them you cannot stay quiet. You have to fight for what you want.…It doesn’t matter what position you have.”

According to The Associated Press, the agreement also states that full-time workers whose positions are not needed by Disney can transfer to another position, but if they do not agree to transfers they can be laid off. If the workers are laid off, they will receive two months of pay.