As of Monday evening, an online fundraiser for the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association had raised nearly $14,000 from more than 250 people. The president of the union, Brian Spieker, said the fund gives the union flexibility in its negotiations with Vail Resorts, which owns Park City Mountain Resort.
“I’m looking at it as a ‘snowy day insurance fund,’ if that would make sense,” Spieker said.
The fundraiser’s description calls it “a safety net in the event we are forced into more significant action and we are not receiving paychecks.”
If the union avoids what it calls a worst-case scenario and doesn’t end up using the money, leaders pledge to donate it to local charities and use some to help other ski patrol unions.
Ski patrollers are working without a contract after the previous deal lapsed last November. That means they’re allowed to strike and Vail Resorts is allowed to lock them out, though neither side says they want that to happen.
The patrollers continue to receive paychecks and are covered by health insurance. Changes to contracts in similar situations are generally applied retroactively.
Park City Mountain Resort COO Mike Goar said a work action like a strike or a lockout was not in the near future.
“You can categorize all of the different types of work stoppages, none of those are good. And that is not a path any of us want to go down,” Goar said. “It shouldn't be part of our conversation, on either side. And I don't believe it is.”
The two sides were set to meet for talks again Tuesday night.
The union says the biggest sticking point is starting wages. Its members earlier this month rejected an offer from Vail for a $15 starting wage. This will be the second meeting after that vote, and Spieker said he anticipates Vail will present its reaction to the patrol’s request of a $17 per hour starting wage.
“For our part, that number was not drawn out of thin air. That $17 represents a very common starting wage from a lot of our neighboring resorts for entry-level patrol positions,” Spieker said. “And then, for my part, I drive past the banner at the Junction at Taco Bell that says ‘Starting wage $17 an hour’ every day. So we feel that that number represents something more in line with what other resorts are paying for the same position.”
Speaking last Tuesday before the union had presented its offer, Goar said focusing only on the starting wage doesn't take into account other parts of the compensation package Vail was offering, which he called very strong. He said it included higher wages, automatic wage increases and significantly increased equipment allowances.
“No, I think the starting wage is right, what we've offered,” Goar said. “I can't speak to other resorts, their process for setting different pay scales.”
In the event of a patrol work stoppage, Goar said there is no law preventing the ski resort from operating. But he said all of the resort’s employees are necessary for the resort to function.
“No, there is no law, but no, a resort can't operate without ski patrol and lift maintenance and lift operators, that list goes on and on. A resort cannot operate without all of those folks,” he said.
He said virtually the same offer the Park City patrollers rejected had been accepted “with enthusiasm” at other ski resorts. Goar, a former ski patroller himself, said he knows full well the skills required to be a good patroller, and said retaining talented patrollers was integral to the resort functioning.
Ahead of Tuesday’s talks, Spieker said the process continues to function.
“I would say we're still committed to the negotiation process. And I would not say that we are in a state that either party feels that that process has broken down yet,” he said. “But, you know, one carries car insurance with the hope that one need not use it.”
