DIS Walt Disney Co

By Erich Schwartzel 

With Walt Disney World open to the public for less than two weeks after a nearly four-month shutdown, a vocal group of employees who have been kept out of the Magic Kingdom by a labor dispute are campaigning against their union to get back to work.

A group of Disney members of the Actors' Equity Association, the New York-based union that represents about 750 Disney World performers, say they want the association to drop its public fight with Walt Disney Co. over coronavirus-safety precautions -- a fight they say risks putting them out of a job.

Actors' Equity has publicly called on Disney to test its members for Covid-19 before they return to work, a demand the company has so far refused.

Now some Equity members say the standoff could lead to them being out of a job altogether, as Disney makes moves to recast the live-action shows, typically in ways that don't require Equity performers. Disney already has revised a show based on the movie "Up" in ways that Equity says doesn't require it to employ an Equity member.

In addition to testing, Equity asked for its members to be allowed to wear masks on stage, another provision Disney has refused. The two sides remain in active talks.

In a statement, the group, representing dozens of Equity members, said, "While we appreciate our union's efforts on our behalf, we strongly believe that Disney has taken the necessary safety precautions for a phase one reopening, and that we deserve a voice in the assessment of these new protocols."

A Disney spokeswoman said: "Seven unions representing 48,000 cast members signed agreements to have their employees return to work, and the Actors' Equity rejected our safety protocols. We have exercised our right to open without Equity performers."

The weekslong disagreement -- unusual for Disney, which rarely finds itself involved in public labor disputes -- speaks to the many competing concerns workers face when navigating a return to work. The Equity members, who personify well-known Disney World characters like Gaston from "Beauty and the Beast" or the wildlife of "The Lion King," will soon stop receiving unemployment benefits and are eager to return to work. Equity, saying it is trying to do best by its members, wants widespread testing that Disney executives say is too onerous.

Meanwhile, some veteran performers are applying for jobs delivering packages for Amazon.com Inc., in case they never return to the park. "If they don't bring my show back, I could be out of a job," said Billy Flanigan, a Disney performer of 39 years who is in the cast of a "Finding Nemo" musical stage show. On Monday, he was driving to Kentucky to make some money teaching a two-day dance workshop.

"By refusing both masks for performers and testing, Walt Disney World is offering Equity members a lesser safety standard than what is offered to other workers at Disney World," said Brandon Lorenz, the union's spokesman. "Our request for masks and testing is based on the science and Disney's obligation to maintain a safe workplace."

In June, Equity called on Disney to test performers for Covid-19 before letting them resume work. The next day, Disney told about 250 Equity members who were planning to help reopen the park that they shouldn't come to work, owing to the union pushback. Many Equity members perform on stage in shows that combine Disney characters with musical numbers that usually last about 30 minutes and run a handful of times a day.

In addition to requiring visitors to wear masks and get their temperatures checked at the gates, Disney has brought safety changes to its stage shows. The crowd size in "Beauty and the Beast" has been reduced and the entire show choreographed anew, so performers are at least 6 feet apart at all times. A sweaty fight scene in "Indiana Jones" is unlikely to return soon, along with a ballet pas de deux between two birds in a "Lion King" show. Plexiglass has gone up in dressing rooms.

Other Disney unions have negotiated for safety training and supplies like hand sanitizer, but the Equity says it needs extra precautions because its members often perform in close quarters or help one another dress or apply makeup.

The Equity members who are calling on their union to stand down say that Disney has gone far enough with such precautions and asking for widespread testing is unnecessary. They say at least 200 members are on their side, though it's hard to know for sure without a union-wide poll, they said.

The clock is ticking. Florida, earlier than most of the country, is this week ending the pandemic-related unemployment package that includes an extra $600 a week -- meaning most furloughed Disney workers will collect only a maximum of $275 a week. Full-time Equity members earn a minimum of about $720 a week at the park.

Meanwhile, Disney World shows are being recast with non-Equity workers. "Up! A Great Bird Adventure," based on the 2009 Pixar Animation hit, used to star an Equity actor playing a wilderness troop leader. Now the show is called "Feathered Friends in Flight" and features a real-life animal-behavior specialist in the lead role.

Actors' Equity views such cast changes as retaliation that could be grounds for an official grievance. Dissident members who want to get back to work see it as a warning sign, especially as Disney eases capacity controls and more customers arrive expecting other shows to be running.

At Disneyland Resort in Southern California, workers have been more vocal, culminating in a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom asking him to force Disney to postpone the reopening that was planned for this month. Disney backed away from the reopening plan, saying it can't open the park until the governor releases guidelines for theme parks.

The group of workers leading the campaign for Equity to find a resolution in Orlando say they are eager to get back to work ahead of unemployment benefits running out, but also because they miss the job.

"We work in a theme park in Florida. We don't do it for the money," said Mark Daniel, a performer in the park's "Indiana Jones" show. "We do it because we love it."

Write to Erich Schwartzel at erich.schwartzel@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2020 12:09 ET (16:09 GMT)

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