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Everybody loses when RTD strikes
Contributed by: Brent Zimmerman on 4/4/2006

The RTD strike is a losing situation for all parties involved or affected by it, and it must be ended as soon as possible. Commuters, RTD workers, school children, the environment, and every taxpayer in Denver is in a losing situation every day the strike continues.

RTD gave the union a more than generous offer - a 10% increase in wages, and a 50-50 split on any health care increases. Yet the union has rejected this, presumably because they are greedy enough to think they deserve even more. Have they considered the impact their selfishness is having on every other citizen in the Denver metro area?

Some of the consequences are obvious. Commuters spend more time commuting to and from work. More cars on the road equals more traffic jams.Parking downtown can become a nightmare, especially when you have 50,000 extra people there for events like Opening Day for the Colorado Rockies occurring on the first day of the strike.

Even more affected are those who rely on public transportation as their primary means of transit to work, doctors appointments, school, or other things. Will people like my neighbor, Kenny, lose their jobs because they don't own a car and struggle to get to work with reduced bus service? What about schoolchildren who rely on RTD buses to transport them to and from school? Here's a statistic for you: On Monday, April 3, the first day of the strike, Denver's South High School reported a whopping 42% of its students absent, mostly due to the strike. Is the union willing to rob these student's education just so they can earn an extra dime or two an hour?

Finally, there's the wasted money and added pollution from the strike that affects every person in Denver. We all pay RTD taxes, and it's unproductive to have buses and trains sit unused. I certainly don't want my tax dollars being spent on multi-million dollar light rail lines to sit idle for days or weeks on end. Last, more cars on the road equals more pollution, something that affects the health and well-being of every living person. Should I have to breathe in more pollutants and smog because someone else now thinks they deserve $20 an hour to drive a bus?

Again, I ask the question, is the strike by the union justified in light of the harmful effects it has on our city? I believe the answer is an overwhelming no. The union was unhappy with their wages and rising healthcare costs, and justifiably so. Yet, RTD gave them a fair offer, and the union in their selfishness, chose to reject it. I would be glad to receive a 10% raise at my job. If I'm not mistaken, wages have remained relatively flat in most industries that last few years, so a 10% raise is pretty generous. And healthcare costs are spiraling out of control at every company, large and small, nationwide. What makes RTD immune to these problems?

The RTD should take a few simple steps to end this strike now. Give the union 3 days to accept their offer and get back to work. If they don't, RTD should immediately contract out all of the union jobs to the existing contractors who already run about 50% of RTD's routes. I'm sure there are plenty of unemployed and minimum wage people who would be more than willing to work for $10 to $20 an hour driving a bus. The job requires a minimal amount of training, and no special college degrees or experience. The selfishness of a few union workers should not be permitted to negatively affect the local economy, environment, and every citizen they way it does with the RTD strike.


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Showing 1 of 1 comments
Submitted By: Bryan Lucas
posted on 4/7/2006 @ 3:03:23 PM
Rated Story
This is a terribly one sided view of the situation. I think the union shoud just realize that not everyone gets big raises and free benefits. Given my own limited raises and increases in how much I pay for my health care I can't sympathize. However, I also can't support management and their views on wages. After nearly 3 years of wage freezes they decided to spend money on a study that found they were underpaid. This led to enormous raises for manangement. Then they expect the union to take small raises. I think the most equitable solution is for the union to accept the contract offer with one addition, that management give back most of their raise from last year. Both sides are hurting the innocent commuters like me. I sold my car to take the bus to my new office. The day I started there RDT goes on strike. I have no sympathy for either side.
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Brent Zimmerman

Littleton , CO

Brent Zimmerman has posted 6 stories and 4 comments since joining on 11/3/2005. Brent Zimmerman 's average story rating is 4.75.
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