Pittsburgh, PA – The parties negotiating Port Authority’s contract with Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union have officially notified the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) that they will be unable to reach a collective bargaining agreement by the expiration of the contract at midnight tonight. As such, the parties have requested that the PLRB appoint a Fact Finder, as required by the Second Class County Port Authority Act.
Once the PLRB appoints a Fact Finder, he/she has 45 days to gather information from both parties and issue a report of findings that outlines recommendations for major contract provisions relative to wages, benefits and work rules. Both parties then have up to 15 days to accept or reject the report.
If one or both parties reject the report, the parties can continue to negotiate. If the union so chooses, it can also go out on strike at this time.
Although the union can take a strike vote at any time during the Fact Finding process, it cannot legally strike until Fact Finding has concluded. As such, Port Authority’s public transit service will continue unaffected throughout the Fact Finding process.