As the City of Orlando prepares for holidays and the Orlando Magic continue to rebuild their team without Coach Stan Van Gundy and Dwight Howard, there are many other untold stories of the workers who created the Amway atmosphere that defines downtown on game night and who are still struggling after brutal layoffs last year.
“They ruined a lot of people’s lives, and people should know about it,” said former city venues employee Stephen Golub. Golub is currently in the process of losing his home as the part-time second job with the Orlando Venues provided a needed $10,000/year to supplement his cost of living, medical bills and housing costs.
“It’s just not right,” said Jose Morales, also a former city employee at the Orlando Venues. “I was let go after 8 years of service. They sent me a letter. They made it clear it was not my job performance. I knew I always gave 100% of my time and they are letting me go while hiring new people off the streets.”
“Whenever they called me, I did my job,” said Craig Sniff. “My managers knew you could count on me. In the rain, bad weather, in the sun, in the heat. No matter what it was, I did my job, and I got let go for it. We didn’t deserve to lose our jobs and we didn’t deserve to be told what we were told.”
The harsh words are directed right at the establishment power controlling the Orlando Venues, specifically the top three names associated with Orlando Venues. Many Amway employees spoke on and off the record regarding Orlando Venues Executive Director Allen Johnson, Orlando Venues Division Manager Michael Thompson and the executives’ personal friend and “boss” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
Despite construction expenses beyond $500 million for the new Amway Center, Mayor Dyer sat back as layoffs rocked the Amway and Venues workers and positions were outsourced to more temp agencies. For most, the venues provided additional income in addition to working full-time jobs. But the old positions also gave workers experience working for the city of Orlando, which could open more possibilities than simply working for a temp agency.
For Stephen Golub, he was even highlighted in the Orlando Sentinel for his excellent medical and customer service at his previous job at Florida Hospital doing physical therapy for heart patients and how positive the impact was on his patients.
After 15 years of service to the Orlando Venues, Steve like many other workers became an integral part to making the venues a part of our community, in addition to a financial success. Never late for work and often adding shifts when needed, Steve loved his job. But in more ways than one, these workers are the real “ambassadors” for Orlando to the general public, and they took the role seriously. Golub, Morales and Sniff all talked about how they and others provided advice to guests, performers, and production teams on where to eat and what to see while in town.
“It’s almost like those three men at the top don’t see everything we do on this job and it’s like they don’t want to know,” Golub continued. “It wasn’t just the money. It was a fun job and it was great people. I enjoyed the people the most. Everyone gets to know each other by name, they notice when you’re not there, and they know you. That’s the part I like.”
But then construction completed on the new Amway Center and certain employees like Golub were now “barred from working the new Amway, but allowed to continue working at Bob Carr.”
“I guess the new arena is supposed to be a certain class.” Golub said. It’s almost like we were blackballed from our jobs. They obviously did not want us there.”
It seemed odd to many Amway employees that the layoffs struck with almost no reason and when they pressured management, workers were told it was the NBA strike and labor dispute that forced it. Just weeks later, however, the Orlando Venues began hiring new employees through temp agencies with less pay and less benefits. It’s even possible that the Venues are paying more in overtime and overhead costs than before, but full accounting numbers are not available from the City of Orlando.
At the same time, pay at the top was only going up. Something these former employees still can’t get over. What Mayor Dyer and the executives fail to understand is the supplemental income wasn’t much but it was critical to sustaining a roof over their head or providing for their families. Instead, the bottom line became more important than our city’s workers.
Former Amway employees also highlighted how out of touch the leadership is. “You can’t hide everything like they think they can,” said Golub. “They try, but they can’t just fire people and get rid of them. We all talked. We knew what was going on.”
Golub and others even confronted Thompson as rumors swirled about layoffs and was reassured his position was safe. About a month later, Steve lost his job. “I barely have enough to live and pay all my medical bills. Now my credit is also suffering because I’m struggling to pay my bills.”
Most also mentioned the broken “buddy system” in play throughout the City Beautiful. Citing the culture within the Amway, Steve doesn’t blame his direct supervisor. He is sure that the pressure comes from the top – Michael Thompson and Allen Johnson. Wonder why Buddy Dyer doesn’t want a change? Easy answer for those who worked on the inside: it’s because they are all friends and know what’s going on.
“We didn’t deserve to lose our job and be told that the Assistant Director is the one making the decision,“ said Sniff.
“That’s part of the groove in Orlando, you got to have friends over here and friends over there,” added Golub. “A change at the top, that’s the only way to make it right.”
“I used the money to help my grandchildren,” said Morales. “There are a lot of people that were let go that really needed this job. It’s a wonderful job. It’s the people running it, the people who are at the top that are running the system, that need to be regulated,” added Morales. “That’s why I’m a strong believer in unions – the unions have to be put in place to protect the worker.”
In a true testament of the character of these local workers, all remain proud of their time and service with the Orlando Venues. And they continue to speak out for their fellow workers in these hard times. “I’m losing my home because of this and they kept getting more,” Steve concluded. “It was a lot of people, it wasn’t just me. That’s why this is so important.”
[…] City Hall, but not the hard-working employees and people he benefits from. In an ongoing struggle, Orlando Venues workers still feel betrayed by Johnson’s actions against them. Don’t forget the fence they put around the Amway to keep […]