Vail and PCPSPA don’t reach agreement, next session Wednesday

The union representing roughly 90% of the ski patrollers at Park City Mountain failed to reach a contract agreement with resort owner Vail Resorts on Monday night. Photo: Patrick Murphy

PARK CITY, Utah — Park City Mountain owner Vail Resorts held a bargaining session with the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) on Monday night, which ended without an agreement. The union’s Business Manager Patrick Murphy said they plan to meet again on Wednesday, and the company has promised to present a contract proposal.

PCPSPA represents roughly 90% of the patrollers at Park City Mountain.

“The company offered our patrol a contract extension that would run through the end of this season and would carry the same $15/17/18 base wage structure that they have offered us in their previous four offers,” Murphy said. “This is the same wage structure that we previously brought to a vote that resulted in an emphatic no vote.”

Vail Resorts Chief Executive Officer Kirsten Lynch announced a bonus incentive program on Monday for all of the company’s full-time and part-time hourly employees that finish out the end of the season.

For all hours worked from January 1 through the end of the season (April 15 if the season runs longer), employees will receive $2 per hour. For example, if an employee works 40 hours per week for the 15 weeks between January 1 and April 15 (600 hours), that employee would receive an end-of-season bonus of $1,200 (600 hours x $2/hour).

The complete payout of the bonus will occur in May. “It is unusual to take these actions in the middle of the season, but this is an unusual season,” Lynch said in a letter to workers.

“These bonus programs are specific to this year and the unique challenges of this season. However, at the end of the season, we are committed to reviewing all of our compensation for next year to determine where changes are warranted,” Lynch said.

While the bonus is available to union members, it is contingent on them accepting a contract extension from the company.

“The bonus did nothing to affect our base wages, although we do think it is notable that the company has done something to address the hard work of all employees this season,” Murphy said.

In a vote over the weekend, 98% of the 171 PCPSPA members voted to approve a strike authorization. While the vote “does not mean that a walkout is inevitable… it does show that our membership is prepared to participate in a work stoppage,” the union said.

“We believe our contract ratification vote and strike authorization vote have both been representative of how our patrollers are feeling and what we want to achieve,” he added.

He said the offer “failed to address our primary concern, which remains base wages, and work towards solving wage compression in an effort to retain our experienced patrollers, keep our mountain safe and make this a viable career for our patrollers.”

PCPSPA has raised over $88,000 via over 1,500 individual donations through its solidarity fund on GoFundMe.

We continue to have productive conversations with the union, Vail Resorts said in a statement this week.

Murphy noted that the union does not know what the contract proposal will look like on Monday.

Despite having a record year — Vail Resorts’ revenue is up 33% year-over-year according to their last quarterly earnings report — the company has faced harsh criticism online for long lines and staffing issues. Epic Pass prices were cut by 20% this year, and sales are up nearly 50% compared to last season.

The Epic Lift Lines Instagram page has grown immensely in the past several weeks, as skiers and riders send pictures and videos of overcrowding at the company’s resorts throughout the country.

A viral email thread shared on social media on Friday allegedly shows Vail Resorts Patrol Manager Nathan Jones trying to recruit ski patrollers at Vail-owned Attitash Mountain Resort to work temporarily at Park City Mountain in preparation for a work stoppage.

Jones allegedly was offering those interested $600 per day or $75 per hour for an eight-hour workday along with travel costs to work at Park City Mountain.

TownLift spoke with Jones, who confirmed he works for Vail. He declined to comment on the email and the context of the offer.

Vail Resorts, however, denies recruiting temporary patrollers to Park City.

“This message is not accurate, was not authorized by Vail Resorts, and suggests an active effort to recruit patrollers to Park City, which is not true,” Vail Resorts said in a statement. The company went on to say that they are “of course taking steps to prepare the resort for a possible work stoppage in the interest of our guests, employees, and community.”

The Salt Lake Tribune was able to independently confirm that a Vail employee sent the email on Thursday night before it was quickly retracted.