The layoffs come just days after a $1.5M fund was established for impacted employeesGETTY IMAGES
TD Garden workers were "officially laid off" after they were "already left in the financial lurch for missed Bruins and Celtics games," according to Michael Silverman of the BOSTON GLOBE. The Garden and the Bruins yesterday "delivered the news to hundreds of part-time ushers." In a letter regarding the "Operational Impact of Coronavirus," the part-time workforce was told it "will not be scheduled until the conditions at our unit allows us to resume normal operations." The letter also stated that the workers "may be eligible" for unemployment compensation benefits. A TD Garden and Bruins spokesperson said, "This decision was difficult, and we hope this situation is temporary." Silverman notes the layoff letter came just three days after Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs said the organization would set aside $1.5M to pay Bruins and Garden employees for missed home games, but "not until and unless the games were officially canceled, which could be weeks or months from now." A Garden usher said of the news, "It's terrible -- we found that out through the newspaper, not through an official thing from our boss, which is pretty sad" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/25).
