Royal Caribbean Extends Suspension From the U.S.
Royal Caribbean has extended its suspension out of the United States through June 30, 2021. Cruises are now not expected to resume until July at the earliest.
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Royal Caribbean has followed other major cruise lines by extending its hold on operations out of the United States. It does now mean that cruises won’t start to resume until July 2021 at the very earliest.
It comes as pressure mounts on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to lift
its “unworkable” framework on the Conditional Sailing Order. An order which is blocking cruise lines to resume sailings safely.
The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which represents 95 percent of global ocean-going cruise capacity, recently called for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to allow the industry to plan a phased resumption of cruise operations from US ports by the beginning of July by lifting the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) imposed on the cruise lines.
This would fit in with the early-July timeframe forecast for a return closer to normal made by President Joe Biden.
Cruising has resumed in other parts of the world following enhanced health and safety protocols that have proven effective, CLIA said, arguing that there is no reason the same should not be true in the United States.
Amazon Union Vote Count Pauses for Night: Live Updates
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Source: Factset
The ballots in the union drive at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., are expected to be counted by hand starting either Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.Credit.Charity Rachelle for The New York Times
With about half the ballots counted late Thursday, votes against unionization had a more than 2-to-1 advantage over those in favor, according to a live broadcast of the counting that was tallied by The New York Times. When the counting paused, there were 1,100 votes against unionization and 463 in support.
The incomplete tally put Amazon on the cusp of defeating the most serious organized-labor threat in the company’s history. In a high-profile campaign since the fall, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union aimed to establish the first union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States. The result will have major implications not only for Amazon but also for organized labor and its al
Florida s Ron DeSantis Sues Federal Government Over COVID Cruise Ship Ban
On 4/8/21 at 2:29 PM EDT
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday that he is suing the federal government over the COVID-19 cruise ship ban. We have tens of thousands of Floridians.throughout the state who depend on the viability of the cruise industry for their livelihoods, their jobs, and their ability to feed their families, DeSantis said during a press conference in Port Miami. This is something that s being imposed, this shutdown, by the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the federal government.
DeSantis added that while the unemployment rate in Florida is below the national average, it is much higher in Miami-Dade County due to the cruise shutdown.
The CDC was not immediately available for comment.
In the first 6 months of the pandemic, Florida lost $3.2 billion from the cruise industry shutdown, including almost 50,000 jobs paying $2.3 billion in wages, according to a September 2020 report from the Federal Maritime Commission. Since the CDC shut down the U.S. cruise industry last year, the state s seaports have seen a decline in operating revenue of almost $300 million, and that figure is expected to reach nearly $400 million in July, the Florida Department of Transportation told CNBC.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to the media about the cruise industry during a press conference at PortMiami on April 08, 2021 in Miami, Florida.