U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

April 4, 2006

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Comm. Director

                        303-455-7600

Andrew Nannis  – Press Secretary

                        202-224-5852


 Sen. Salazar Calls for Swift Resolution of RTD-Labor Impasse

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the workers of Amalgamated Transit Workers Union (ATWU) Local 1001 struck for a second straight day, United States Senator Ken Salazar called on both sides of the disagreement to redouble their efforts to find a resolution.

In a letter today to Cal Marsella, General Manager of RTD, and Yvette Salazar, President of ATWU Local 1001, Senator Salazar wrote, “[I]t is critically important that this impasse be resolved as expeditiously as possible. The credibility of RTD and its initiatives, including FasTracks, is very much at stake.”

The full text of Senator Salazar’s letter faxed to Ms. Salazar and Mr. Marsella this afternoon is included below:

April 4, 2006

Ms. Yvette Salazar
President
Amalgamated Transit Workers Union
Local 1001
3315 West 72nd Ave
Westminster, CO 80030

Mr. Cal Marsella
General Manager
Regional Transportation District
1600 Blake St
Denver, CO 80202

Dear Yvette and Cal:

I write to express my deep concern about the current impasse in negotiations between the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) and the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union (ATWU). I am concerned that the strike, affecting tens of thousands of residents in the Denver metropolitan area, will have long-term implications for the expansion of transit programs so many have worked so hard to achieve.

I respect the rights of the workers and their desire to have a fair agreement. I also respect the desire of RTD management to promptly address this issue and to ensure continued mass transit service to the metro population it serves.

However, it is critically important that this impasse be resolved as expeditiously as possible. The credibility of RTD and its initiatives, including FasTracks, is very much at stake. RTD, its workers and many in the broader community have invested too much time, effort and resources over too many years to build RTD into a national model for regional transit, only to have these efforts derailed by a protracted labor-management dispute.

I respectfully request that you redouble your efforts to reach a resolution to this disagreement as soon as possible. I stand by to help in any way I can.

Respectfully,

Ken Salazar
United States Senator