Port Authority Extends Free Fares Through March 27
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - As Port Authority continues to deal with a shortage of workers due to disagreements over the service's COVID-19 vaccination requirement, they have announced that free fares will stay in place through Sunday, March 27.
"As many of us have experienced over the last week, service reliability remains an ongoing issue," said Port Authority CEO Katharine Kelleman. "Fortunately, it has already begun to improve as more and more employees get vaccinated and become eligible to return to work."
Port Authority says that more than 90 percent of its 2,600 employees have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination.
Earlier this week, dozens of Port Authority employees who were told not to report to work due to not being vaccinated against COVID-19 rallied downtown in protest of the vaccine requirement.
"We are scared," said one employee. "We worked 20 months out here while people sat at home. We're asking that you bargain with us. These are our rights, we are not against vaccinations, we are against being mandated to do so."
Port Authority has told employees who are fully vaccinated that they can return to work for their next scheduled shift and any employee that can show proof they have been partially vaccinated at their disciplinary hearing can be permitted to return but on a probationary basis.
