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Disneyland hotel workers, in an effort to draw attention to their ongoing labor dispute over health insurance, are planning to stage a protest ‘sick-in.’ Without a union contract for over a year and a half, workers, as well as their supporters, will be dressed as Disney characters for tomorrow’s action in Anaheim scheduled to coincide with a D23 Expo convention address by the corporation’s CEO Bob Iger. A strike looms as a possibility especially after UNITE HERE Local 11, the union representing the workers, rejected a contract offer made by Disney last month. An overwhelming 92% of its voting members declined the proposal saying that it would have raised the cost of health insurance beyond the reach of many workers. The majority of housekeepers, bellmen, bartenders, dishwashers, and cooks employed at the Disneyland, Grand Californian, and Paradise Pier hotels also claim that the contract would have created a new “casual regular” status of employment that would be ineligible to receive health benefits. Disney wants to divide insurance premiums into seven separate plans, while the union is seeking a continuation of benefits previously enjoyed.

GUESTS: Ada Briceño, Unite HERE Local 11.

For more information, visit www.disneyisunfaithful.org.