Bus drivers in Grand Junction on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of authorizing a strike.
The drivers, who make $11.25 an hour after their first year on the job and top out at $13.65 after five years, are among the lowest paid bus drivers in the country, according to an Amalgamated Transit Union news release.
The ATU represents the Grand Valley Transit drivers who have been in negotiations with Transdev, a French-based private contractor which operates the GVT, since the fall. The driver’s contract with GVT expired on Dec. 31.
Bus drivers at nearby Roaring Forks Transit Authority start at more than $20 per hour, according to the release.
The GVT buses will be operating on Wednesday, but the vote gives the leadership of the drivers’ union, ATU Local 1776, the authority to “call a strike when they feel all other options have been exhausted,” the release said.
Nearly 80 percent of the workers turned out to vote Tuesday, and 100 percent of the voting members chose to authorize a strike and reject Transdev’s current offer, the union said.
