Park City Mountain ski patrol on strike over contract dispute

Park City Mountain ski patrollers form a picket line during their strike at Canyons Village, raising awareness of ongoing labor negotiations. Photo: TownLift // Laura Modena

'Really, all we know is that the experienced patrollers who know this terrain are on the picket line right now. We hope that doesn’t impact any sort of guest safety, and we hope that everyone on the mountain is remaining safe right now.' Quinn Graves, PCPSPA Business Manager

PARK CITY, Utah — Nearly 200 members of the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) began an Unfair Labor Practice strike Friday Dec. 27, citing bad-faith bargaining and violations of the National Labor Relations Act by Vail Resorts, the parent company of Park City Mountain.

Instead of clocking in for work, ski patrollers and mountain safety personnel lined up outside the main entrances to Park City Mountain. From the picket line, Quinn Graves, PCPSPA Business Manager shared, “Today, at 7:30, we walked out. The company has forced this strike because they repeatedly bargained in bad faith and violated the National Labor Relations Act.”

The strike follows nine months of negotiations, during which the union claims the company failed to present counteroffers on wages or benefits for over two weeks.

Deirdra Walsh, VP & COO for Park City Mountain said, “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.”

Graves shared, “Really, all we know is that the experienced patrollers who know this terrain are on the picket line right now. We hope that doesn’t impact any sort of guest safety, and we hope that everyone on the mountain is remaining safe right now.”

 

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The union has filed multiple Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Vail Resorts of prioritizing anti-union tactics, including flying in strikebreakers, over addressing employee concerns.

Graves emphasized the importance of experienced patrollers in ensuring safety on the mountain while expressing frustration over the company’s approach to addressing the union’s demands.“It seems like they are putting more time and effort and money into bringing strike breakers or scabs from other resorts to this resort, instead of just negotiating it with us in good faith to give us the very reasonable economic package and benefits that we’re asking for.”

PCPSPA’s key priorities include:

• Securing a wage and benefit package that allows members to thrive and aligns with the documented cost of living in the Park City area.
• Establishing a wage structure that encourages career longevity among employees, fostering a highly skilled and experienced patrol. This benefits both patrollers and Vail Resorts by maintaining safety and excellence on the mountain.
• Decompressing the pay scale to ensure tenured patrollers are compensated for their skills, knowledge, and experience. This includes maintaining an industry-leading education and training package.
• Keeping wages in step with inflation since 2022. Starting wages were raised to $21 per hour in 2022, but rising costs equate to what should be a $23 starting wage today.

The decision to strike came after an overwhelming vote by union members earlier this month. On Dec. 13, 98.5% of PCPSPA members participated in a strike authorization vote, with 100% voting in favor of the work stoppage. Graves shared, “We did go to mediation yesterday with our federal mediator, and it did not go well, and that is really what pushed us to go on this strike today. We met for seven hours, and nothing really came of it.”

Following the breakdown of mediation efforts, Graves urged the community to show their support by redirecting their spending away from Vail-owned businesses and toward local establishments. “While we are on strike: don’t buy day tickets, don’t purchase food from the lodges, don’t use Vail-owned tune and rental shops, don’t stay at Vail Resorts-owned lodging,” said Graves. “We are asking our community to help us tell Vail Resorts to bargain in good faith. While the union strives for better wages and benefits, please support us and our amazing community by shopping at local businesses instead.”

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Graves emphasized, “This strike isn’t intended to go against our local management. We love and respect our local management. The strike is to show the resorts that we take our job seriously and we want to secure a fair contract for our unit.”

This strike reflects a broader struggle within the ski industry. Unionized ski patrollers at Keystone Resort and lift maintenance personnel at Crested Butte Ski Resort have similarly called for better wages and working conditions.

PCPSPA members emphasized the safety and experience of the skiing public are at risk until an agreement is reached. “Everyone’s sad that we’re not at work. Everyone wants to be at work, but more importantly, we want to secure a fair contract for our whole unit,” Graves shared.

The picket lines will remain in place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily until a resolution is achieved. Updates can be found on the union’s social media channels, @pcskipatrolunion on Instagram and Facebook.