Last week, news broke that Disney would be requiring all of their salaried and non-union hourly employees in the U.S. working at any Disney site be fully vaccinated. The company cannot require union employees to be vaccinated without first consulting the unions, who can negotiate it into their contract for the members under a collective bargaining agreement. According to a statement made to Orlando news station Spectrum News 13, talks have been ongoing between Disney and the Services Trade Council, a collection of six unions representing Cast Members at Walt Disney World.
Jeremy Haicken, president of UNITE HERE Local 737, one of the six unions of the STC, told Spectrum News that despite not having reached an agreement yet, the negotiations will continue until one is reached.
“We continue to negotiate with Disney. We are especially concerned that unionized workers with medical or religious concerns will be accommodated fairly,” Haicken told Spectrum News. “The vaccines are safe and effective in preventing serious illness and death. We hope that all hospitality workers in Central Florida will get the vaccine as soon as possible.”
