More than 50 metro Denver bus and train operators marched through Lower Downtown from Union Station to Regional Transportation District headquarters at rush hour Tuesday night and packed a board meeting demanding higher wages.
“Everyone knows that RTD needs to be fixed” and Colorado lawmakers have proposed a “transit reform” bill to help do that, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001 president Lance Longenbohn said before leading the march. “The RTD should recognize that paying its highly skilled workers is a critical part of that fix.”
RTD workers conducted their protest as contract negotiations with the union have stalled. Representing about 2,000 operators, the ATU is seeking 7% wage increases each year for three years. RTD has proposed a 5% increase followed by two years of 4.5% increases. The union’s proposal would raise the hourly wage for workers after 4.5 years of service to $35.15 this year, $37.40 in 2026 and $40.28 in 2027. Starting pay for bus and train operators is currently $25.96 an hour.
“We have a lot of things we have to deal with,” said Rick Stubblefield, 59, a bus driver for 18 years, adding that he’s been punched in the face twice since 2019. “You don’t go to your work anticipating getting hit on, spit on. I’d like to be compensated adequately for that.”
Despite a hiring blitz following a 2021 board decision to prioritize recruitment, the RTD has struggled to retain operators. The agency hired 306 new bus drivers in 2024 but lost 180, according to information provided by staff to its 15 publicly-elected directors. The RTD hired 84 light rail operators last year but lost 69.
Shortages of available bus and train operators have limited the RTD’s ability to help riders navigate disruptions as maintenance crews carry out catch-up work to repair deteriorating rails, which forced the designation of slow zones where trains crawl at 10 miles per hour. Agency supervisors have said they cannot easily provide bus shuttles between rail stations due to difficulties of lining up drivers.
The main reason RTD bus and train operators leave their jobs, Longenbohn said, is the lack of adequate compensation for an increasingly difficult job.
Mediation has been set for the end of March.
Striking isn’t likely, he said. “We don’t want to be that disruptive. Striking doesn’t work against the RTD because it doesn’t disrupt their revenue stream. The only thing we’d shut down would be peoples’ access to transit.”
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