The first two rows of a RFTA bus is closed off to give the bus drivers distance from passengers due to the coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
RFTA lead mechanic Will Fabela, right, and Patricia Rosales Trigo disinfect a bus at the Aspen Maintenance Facility on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
The union representing bus drivers at Roaring Fork Transportation Authority will ask management Friday to provide hazard pay for work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ed Cortez, president and business agent for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1774, said Wednesday the chapter would seek an increase in hourly pay, a lump sum bonus or a combination of the two. Details such as how far back the pay would go and how much it would put the in pockets of bus drivers has to be worked out, he said.
We’ve all seen people on social media wishing 2020 away and hoping for a better year in 2021. However, I think there have been many bright spots. As a whole, we have learned that we are more resilient than we knew, more generous with our time and attention, and way luckier to be alive than we sometimes realized.
I continued working even after the world shut down, photographing a different kind of daily life. I had the unique opportunity to watch firsthand what our little community looked like when it was a bit slower and quieter. Neighbors came together to wish a child happy birthday in a drive-by celebration, teachers tried to make their students feel like important rights of passage were still honored, and restaurants did their best to stay open and keep their employees at work. Things are different, of course, but while we miss large gatherings and seeing each other’s faces without masks, I have found that I am more grateful than ever that I get to live in the Roaring Fork Va