US cinema owners have called on US congress and the Trump administration to provide emergency relief to cushion the effect of the losses caused by closures due to coronavirus outbreak.
A trade group representing the body, National Association of Theatre owners (NATO) urged US lawmakers to approve loan guarantees to help cover fixed costs, and also tax benefits to support employers.
Obviously, all over the globe the business model of the movie theatre industry is uniquely vulnerable to the present crisis,” the group said in a statement.
Most cinemas in the United States, including those owned by AMC Entertainment and Cineworld Group Plc’s, Regal Cinemas, closed their doors for business this week to help prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading.
Movie theaters employ more than 150,000 people in the United States; ticket sellers to cleaning staff, according to the association.
The cinema association said it had approved $1 million of its own reserves to be used as aid for theater employees who were out of work due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Facebook plans $1000 support Bonuses
However, Facebook, world’s biggest social media network announced plans to give each of its 45,000 full-time employees $1000 bonus to help them during the global crisis.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO disclosed this in an internal company memoon Tuesday