Disneyland Resort to Lay Off Over 2,800 Union Cast Members, Including Restaurant and Club 33 Staff

Matthew Soberman

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Disneyland Resort to Lay Off Over 2,800 Union Cast Members, Including Restaurant and Club 33 Staff

Following news that nearly 2,700 non-union Disneyland Resort Cast Members would be laid off, union Cast Members have felt a similar blow.

According to The Orange County Register‘s Brady MacDonald, Workers United Local 50 has notified its members that Disney will lay off 2,858 Cast Members from its ranks of 7,796, which cover restaurant workers like cooks, bartenders and bussers. This is an increase from the 2,500 the union reported last week. Over 1,300 cooks, bartenders, waitstaff and bussers from Disneyland and Disney California Adventure’s table-service restaurants were affected as well as almost 1,200 cooks, bakers and other Cast Members from quick-service restaurants and over 300 staff from outdoor food carts. Over 400 of these layoffs will come from full-time Cast Members.

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While they didn’t mention specifically which restaurants would have their staff reduced, they did make special note that the layoffs would include staff at Club 33, Disneyland’s exclusive members-only location in New Orleans Square. Over 40 chefs, cooks, waitstaff, and bussers will be laid off from the club.

https://www.facebook.com/WULocal50/photos/a.141995229331907/1486075914923825/?type=3&xts%5B0%5D=68.ARAa9dTwAtRFIx7BAgYwp2vVX7RB5vmNbdOU_yZxQFhSNlurNcvoZe_rqJ1sSGvz8b6H9nybiRTmLuKNUcysJ1JCYPSpdW0xkTTgXjzcFSt-36pGbJ1O_soy0kMpH5Ti6yMEPtQIQTuGZhC8DySf-L1aIAxAjmvj2G03jZtE2b9W8PFQCyG-XryYtnb8Gpmlj_v1xO3HssbcWxhfOoOJDjCokTG0wn9y4SlbIUOlJ1qU1Rxy6NmgRTwxfqOhiFVHx0IGbtzL8p_FSuxbz8KCO7MNzhK4oghqkQ02ImJcS9xdlkIJ86iA5LswTfTYRuiS2bjeh9o8jHJNV8C5L7X7bJt30A&tn=-R

As part of the announcement, union President Chris Duarte stated, “Compared to other unions, Local 50 looks to be one of the few unions that has Full-Time Cast Members on their list of layoffs.” Duarte also noted that the details are tentative and subject to change.

This covers approximately ten percent of Disney’s 28,000 company-wide layoffs announced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has touched Cast Members at the Walt Disney World Resort and Walt Disney Imagineering950 Cast Members from UNITE HERE Local 11 will also be let go. MacDonald estimates that over 6,500 total cast members from the Disneyland Resort could be laid off, though the number could rise as things develop.

The Walt Disney Company restored the salaries of its Senior Executives in late August, when thousands of Cast Members were still on furlough.

We encourage our readers to help Cast Members during this difficult time by making a donation to the Cast Member Pantry. The donation-based organization has an Amazon Wish List as well as Venmo @castmemberpantry. Cast Members can email Cast Member Pantry or contact them via their Facebook page to book a 15-minute “shopping” window.

Keep reading WDWNT and Disneyland News Today for more on this ongoing story.