Walt Disney World to suspend salaries of 40,000 staffers, benefits to continue

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Walt Disney World to suspend salaries of 40,000 staffers, benefits to continue
Walt Disney World to suspend salaries of 40,000 staffers, benefits to continue

New Delhi : Walt Disney World has decided to stop paying wages to 43,000 staffers while allowing them to enjoy the benefits for up to one year.

Disney closed all of its theme parks in mid-March, including Paris and the US, joining its parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong which closed in January as the outbreak raged in China.

While announcing the closure of the parks, hotels and other entertainment spaces, the company promised to keep paying their employees till April 19. Now, as the date has approached and there are still no chances of operations coming back to normal, the company has announced the suspension of salaries to the employees but keep medical, dental and life insurance for those on furlough.

"The union agreement provides stronger protections and benefits for 43,000 union workers at Disney than virtually any other furloughed or laid-off workers in the United States," the union said in a statement to members. With 77,000 workers, Disney World is the largest single-site group of workers in the nation.

Around 200 workers will remain on job who are performing essential duties and they will be categorized on the level of seniority.

Some of Disney World Florida employees approaching the furlough date appealed to the state to fix its benefits registration system and unemployment website which has been experiencing issues due to a huge increase in users.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis said over 640,000 unemployment claims have been made in the state since March 15.


Disney also said it would furlough executive, salaried and hourly nonunion employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time.

"This agreement provides an easier return to work when our community recovers from the impact of Covid-19," Disney officials said in a statement about Saturday’s agreement. "We are grateful to have worked together in good faith to help our cast members navigate these unprecedented times."