The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) has denied employer Vail Resort’s offer of $15/hr as a starting wage for the third time. The patrollers union entered this season without a contract, and shared to their Instagram page (embedded at the bottom of this blog) that they are standing firm to fight Vail for a more livable wage.
They are hoping to secure a contact that would grant new patrollers at least $17/hr.
Will they go on strike? That remains to be seen, but threatening to walk out on Vail Resorts with the upcoming holiday season would be massive leverage in their fight for increase pay.
I think most skiers and snowboarders would agree with me in my belief that ski patrollers deserved to be paid well. Ski resorts simply can’t operate without the hard-work of patrollers, and their value is really hard to quantitate if you think about it.
Vail Resorts was reported to have $1.3 billion cash in hand, yes that’s BILLION with a B, in a recent quarterly earning report. They’ve also oversold their Epic Passes to the point that some of their resorts have become beyond overcrowded on the weekends (more on that later).
You’d think they could dip into that bottomless pit of money and pay some of their most valuable employees what they’re deserved, right?
Stay tuned here at Unofficial Networks for any updates regarding PCPSPA’s ongoing battle with Vail Resorts. We’ll be keeping an eye on it. The full statement from their Instagram post is embedded below.
All photos credit: @pcpspa