Posted: May 05, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 5 A cyclist rides past the dormant Ottawa Shaw Centre in April. Workers who were laid off during the pandemic are speaking out, saying they feel abandoned.(Stu Mills/CBC) Ottawa Shaw Centre employees laid off during the pandemic say they have been discarded by their union and employer over the past 14 months. About 40 full-time and 220 part-time workers have been out of work since March 2020 when convention business halted due to the pandemic. "It's like we don't exist," said Lynne Villeneuve, who has worked as a banquet server since 1989. "You think you work in a place for so many years and they would just discard us like that? I find it hurtful and disappointing."