Some posts may contain affiliate links which means our team could earn money if you purchase products from our site.
Disney Plans to Replace Union Nurses with Third-Party Staffing
Disney is planning to end its relationship with the union nurses at its Burbank studio lot, choosing instead to use a third-party staffing company. This decision comes less than a year after the company successfully negotiated a new contract with IATSE.
Related – Disneyland Workers Union Reaches Tentative Agreement Covering 14,000 Theme Park Employees
According to Deadline, the company first notified IATSE Local 80—the union that represents studio nurses, among others—in July that it planned to invoke a provision within the union’s Basic Agreement. This move allows Disney to switch from union staff to hiring subcontracted nurses through a third-party medical staffing company instead.
“Their official reason, to me, verbally, is they want to get out of the business of directly providing medical care to the crew, [because] there’s a liability, so they’re trying to avoid liability,” Local 80 business manager DeJon Ellis told Deadline.
A studio source indicated to Deadline that this decision will only affect the Burbank studio lot and that the medical services provided to employees will not change. The stated reason for the switch is to streamline backend processes, including staffing and reporting. A representative for Disney declined to comment.
While no timeline for the change has been announced, the move has already caused a stir among local crew members. A petition urging Disney to continue hiring union nurses has quickly gathered over 700 signatures.
“This, to me, is an assault on unionism and and a weaponization of the language [of the contract],” Ellis insisted. “This is just a principled attack, if you will, in my opinion, on the union workers. It’s just one less headache for that [labor relations] department.”
The decision to swap union nurses for contract staff is possible because the IATSE Basic Agreement with Hollywood studios only prohibits subcontracting work “which has not heretofore been subcontracted in the multi-employer bargaining unit.” This provision provides a loophole for Disney, especially since studio nurses were previously subcontracted at Universal Studios back in 1989. This clause was a major point of contention during the most recent bargaining cycle, with union leadership spending “hours” trying to get it removed.
Disney’s Burbank lot has a deep history with union nurses, employing them for 85 years. This tradition includes Hazel George, a union nurse famously tapped by Walt Disney himself to tend to a neck injury. George became one of his most trusted confidantes, even helping secure employee support and funding for the ambitious project that became Disneyland, before eventually returning to be his personal caretaker until his death in 1966. The current contract requires the studios to notify IATSE in writing of any intent to subcontract this work.
Get all the best Disney News
and more, straight to your inbox!
We don't spam. Read our privacy policy for more info.
For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!
Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.
Click Here for your FREE No Obligation Quote.
