Penguins players and owners have formulated a plan to cover the wages PPG Paints Arena workers would lose because the NHL season has been suspended, the team announced Friday.
The club's press release said the plan will cover "full- and part-time arena and service employees."
Penguins players, the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation and the Mario Lemieux Foundation were cited as the sources of money to pay those lost earnings.
“The ushers, ticket takers, concession workers, cleaning staff and other arena workers are the backbone of a Penguins hockey game at PPG Paints Arena, and a big part of the Penguins’ family,” David Morehouse, the team’s president and CEO, said in a statement released by the team.
“Our owners, Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, and our players, led by Sidney Crosby, thought it was essential to help them through this. We have come together to ensure that they will not lose pay because of the pause in our season.”
The Penguins had six regular-season games remaining on their 2019-20 schedule when the NHL put the season on hold Thursday because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A number of other NHL teams, including Detroit and Washington, have announced plans to make up for earnings that arena workers might lose because of the league's shutdown.
The Penguins do not manage the arena, thus have no role in dealing with building workers who would be on duty for non-hockey events.
