Denver transit workers strike, forcing thousands to change plans

Boulder Daily Camera
DENVER - Thousands of Denver-area commuters scrambled to find alternate transportation Monday after nearly 1,800 bus drivers, train operators and mechanics went on strike - the first walkout for the Regional Transportation District in 24 years.

The Regional Transportation District used private contractors to keep about 45 percent of its bus routes running but closed light-rail operations and a shuttle service stretching along a downtown pedestrian mall.

The state Labor Department has notified the union that the strike would not jeopardize public safety and Gov. Bill Owens has no plans to intervene, according to his spokesman, Dan Hopkins.

"The determination has to be based on public safety, it can't be based on whether or not it's inconvenient," Hopkins said.

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Light Rail, regional buses and airport shuttles are affected. Buses operated by contract agencies are currently operational on a more limited schedule (this includes some of Boulder and CU) but could strike for the same reasons two weeks from now.

This is really huge, all things considered - Denver-Metro is reasonably liberal, but unions don't have much of a stake in the state, and we're very much a purple state. Much of the state's population lives in the band from Fort Collins to Peublo, and RTD serves about 275,000 people a day.

The fact that our brazenly rethuglican gov is not intervening is very interesting.

While they stiffed the unions. Sounds familiar?

I'd keep striking and the pissed-off commuters will have to blame the fatcats, not the bus drivers/workers. They have had a wage freeze since 2002, I believe.

The fatcats offered a 1.80 a hour raise, plus a $250 signing bonus. That's fucking ridiculous.

Hawkeye-X

Some less senior drivers have been even breaking the DOT regs and been forced to work more than 70 hours a week.

People don't seem to realize that drivers who are subject to DOT regs instead of FLSA regs DON'T GET OVERTIME. So making a driver who costs $13 an hour work 70 hours a week is cheaper than making a driver who makes $16 an hour, and is cheaper than hiring another driver. Some of these drivers haven't had a day off in months, and they're not allowed to refuse a call - they can be fired for refusing to come to work on their scheduled day off if they get called in.

Unfortunately, at least the Post is spinning this as "Evil Union should DIE" and a lot of people, especially the young, "entitled" student types, are only noticing their own inconvenience, not the real issues at work.

And third, even with 5 years seniority, a typical driver can't make a house payment anywhere in the Metro area.

From one striker to another, I salute the transit workers. We're gonna roll the union on folks....