Sixers Fans Express Disappointment in Josh Harris on Twitter
The Philadelphia 76ers ownership doesn't seem to have the full support of its fan base all the time. Now, that's especially the case as Sixers' Managing Partner, Josh Harris, along with his partner, David Blitzer, decided to force pay cuts for Sixers and Devils employees.
As we know, the NBA and the NHL are both on a hiatus as the seasons are suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak in America. While many were upset sports are done, for the time being, a lot of people have grown concerned about arena workers' pay.
Without games in play, the hourly workers won't have the opportunity to earn a paycheck. Fortunately, owners and players have been looking to help out with that. For the Sixers, specifically, Josh Harris planned to help pay the staff for postponed games.
“In this time of need, we need to band together and take care of people,” Harris said, in a statement a couple of weeks back. “Our teams, our cities and the leagues in which we operate are a family, and we are committed to looking out for one another.”
For a moment, Harris came off hero-like. This week, though, the Sixers owner is catching a ton of heat as it has been announced that Sixers and Devils' salaried workers are expected to deal with pay cuts starting next month.
Scott O'Neil, the CEO of Harris-Blitzer, a company that owns the Devils and the Sixers organizations put out a statement on Monday night when the rumors started heating up. "To ensure we can continue to support and operate our businesses during these uncertain times without reducing our workforce," O'Neil wrote. "We are asking our full-time, salaried employees to temporarily reduce their pay by up to 20 percent and move to a four-day week."
At first look, this seems like an unfortunate, but reasonable request, considering the hit that most companies will take during this unexpected downtime. However, Sixers fans are having a hard time getting over the fact that Harris, who is worth over three billion dollars, is looking to cut down his employees' salaries for the next few months as the country struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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