After the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, local bus drivers could be hoisting picket signs.

The Amalgamated Transit Union 1774, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority’s bus drivers union, was recently approved by the Colorado Department of Labor to go on strike by Jan. 1, 2025, if an agreement cannot be reached between the two entities.

The union, negotiating with Roaring Fork Transportation Authority for higher pay since May, gave a 40-days notice to strike in early September. ATU 1774 President Ed Cortez and Roaring Fork Transportation Authority Chief Executive Officer Kurt Ravenschlag received a letter on Friday, detailing the department’s decision.

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Cortez said Roaring Fork Transportation Authority buses normally run until 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day, and in the past, drivers have had to leave at least 1,000 people on bus platforms because they could not take any more riders. 

Cortez said this could be severely compounded by a strike after New Year’s Eve. 

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“RFTA management needs to work with us, or worst-case scenario, 10,000 people will be stranded on New Year’s Eve in Rubey Park,” he said. “It will be total chaos.”

New Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus drivers currently make $30.60 per hour. Drivers who work seven years or more are bumped up to $38.76 an hour. The current rates come from a previous 17% pay increase for full-time drivers in 2022 and 2023 under former CEO Dan Blankenship, who recently retired.

Ravenschlag, however, proposed during recent negotiations — the parties convened for formal bargaining in July and September — increasing driver base pay to $31.05 per hour, and the maximum wage rate to $40 per hour. The union rejected the offer, arguing the rates don’t align with cost of living in the valley.

Roaring Fork Transportation Authority management argued that a strike by the drivers union should be disallowed because it would interfere with commuting — especially for essential workers and law enforcement, if they lack other transportation options. The transit service also said a drivers strike would negatively impact regional traffic.

The Colorado Department of Labor said these were credible arguments by the transit service but that Colorado law allows mass transit strikes despite such possible impacts. Only specific impacts on public peace, health, and safety can disallow a strike under Colorado Law. 

“At this time, this division does not find sufficient evidence of those specific impacts to justify an order disallowing a strike to mandate arbitration, and therefore, the anticipated strike will be allowed,” the Colorado Department of Labor letter states.

The Department of Labor is authorizing the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority and its union to take steps toward mediation, in which the Colorado Department of Labor would “closely monitor whether a strike, especially if progress is lacking toward agreement on a collective bargaining agreement, may come to interfere with the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety enough to justify an order disallowing a strike and mandating arbitration.”

This means the Colorado Department of Labor could change its decision as the two parties work through their respective disagreements in mediation.  

Ravenschlag said the transit service is focused on following the process put forward by the Department of Labor.

“With respect to the Department of Labor’s decision on this, we will prepare to meditate and will follow the directives to resolve this matter with the ATU,” he said. “Our focus remains on ensuring safe and reliable transportation while supporting our workforce and the communities we serve.”

The Department of Labor said that the two parties must submit any new developments between the two entities, whether through mediation or the existing bargaining agreements, by Nov. 15.