A worker shortage caused ferry runs to be cancelled on the Anacortes, San Juan Islands and other routes over the weekend.
KING 5 spoke with Justin Paulson who is the Orcas Island representative for the Ferry Advisory Committee.
“Having the ferries shutdown is a gigantic economic impact to our community,” says Paulson. “When it trickles down to things like grocery stores not being able to put milk on the shelves, that’s when you really start to see folks get into panic mode.”
There have been rumors that workers were planning a “sick-out” to protest the state mandate for all workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The ferry service wouldn’t confirm that but says in a statement that many workers are out due to COVID cases, quarantines or other issues.
It says it’s also dealing with a “global shortage of mariners.”