Park City, Utah — The biggest story in the ski industry right now is the ongoing strike by the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA). On Friday, the ski patrol officially announced that its roughly 200 members were on strike and spent their weekend picketing in the Mountain and Canyons Villages. The PCPSPA has been aiming to increase its starting wage from $21 to $23 an hour, improve its benefits package, among other goals. Blowback for Vail Resorts has been swift and has resulted in operational nightmares at Park City Mountain Resort. Here’s the latest on the strike:
Negotiations Restart: Initially, the next round of negotiations was scheduled for January 2nd. However, after the PCPSPA repeatedly stated that they were open to talks at anytime, Vail Resorts and PCPSPA held its latest round of negotiations on Monday. The parties expect to continue talks today.
On Monday afternoon, I chatted with Quinn Graves, who’s the business manager of PCPSPA. She emphasized that this strike is happening in order to help grow awareness about the wage disparity in the outdoor industry:
“We don’t just think that just our unit deserves a living wage. We think everyone that works in the outdoor industry deserves a better wage. The outdoor tourism industry brings in billions of dollars annually, and people in this industry have been underpaid for a really long time because part of our jobs seem really fun, which they are, but this shouldn’t negate the fact that we shouldn’t be paid a liveable wage to live in or close to the towns that we work in and not be surviving paycheck to paycheck. So while we’re bargaining for our unit, we really want to emphasize that these struggles go far beyond our 200 members, and what we’re asking for is extremely reasonable. Our CEO makes more than $6 million a year, and we think some of that money be put in the pockets for people who have their boots on the ground.”
Conditions on the mountain: This past weekend saw a large chunk of PC’s terrain closed, which led to long lift lines and crowded slopes. The Union planned to work on various lifts that didn’t open this weekend before the strike began. In response to avalanche concerns, Vail Resorts has focused on getting beginner and intermediate terrain open. The situation got much worse on Monday.
Because of power outages and new snowfall, Park City saw various delayed lift openings yesterday, while some didn’t even open. The result was huge lift lines and pissed off guests.
In response, Park City Mountain Resort stopped selling lift ticket on Monday.
Who Are The New Patrollers? Most of the Park City ski patrol are on strike, so who’s helping to open and operating the mountain? Vail Daily reports that ski patroller managers from Vail Mountain were sent from Colorado to help the mountain operate. It’s believed that the number of ski patrollers on the mountain is drastically lower than what it would be if the Union was not on strike, with fears it could lead to longer response time for incidents and a greater avalanche risk. The PCPSPA estimates that Vail Resorts has brought in around 30-35 patrollers from other mountains to help.
Picketing Patrollers at HQ: Park City isn’t the only place where ski patrollers were picketing. On Monday, the unions for Eldora and Loveland’s ski patrol picketed in Broomfield, Colorado, next to the headquarters of Vail Resorts. While those ski patrols aren’t a part of Vail Resorts, the move was an act of solidarity with the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association.
Responses from Vail Resorts: On Monday evening, Park City VP and COO Deirdra Walsh issued a video statement on Park City Mountain Resort’s Instagram page. Not sure why they made it a video slide instead of a reel, but that’s just the marketing major in me being a wiseass. In the video, she acknowledged that while ski patrol being on strike has impacted operations, it also comes down to the minimal snowfall the ski resort has received so far this winter.
Deirdra Walsh issued the following statement to us last Friday:
“We are deeply disappointed the patrol union has walked away from mediation and chosen drastic action that attempts to disrupt mountain operations in the middle of the holiday season, given we invested significantly in patrol with their wages increasing more than 50% over past four seasons, and we have reached agreements on 24 of the 27 current contract terms. We want to reassure skiers and snowboarders, our employees, and this community that despite the union’s actions, Park City Mountain will remain open with safety as our top priority, and all planned terrain will be open thanks to patrol leaders from Park City Mountain and our other mountain resorts. In addition to the over 50% increase in wages over the past four seasons, the current Park City Mountain patrol proposal increases wages another 4% for the majority of patrollers and provides $1,600 per patroller for equipment. We remain committed to reaching an agreement.”
More talks are expected today and later this week.
Image/Video Credits: Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association, Loveland Professional Ski Patrol, Park City Mountain Resort
