The union representing the ski patrollers at Park City Mountain Resort and resort representatives will continue negotiations this month after their contract expired on May 1st.
After an unprecedented winter for the ski industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ski patrollers at PCMR and resort representatives were also locked in negotiations to update their employment contract. Even though PCMR’s season ended in mid-April, those negotiations are set to extend at least until later in May.
The union, called the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association, had been unsuccessful in securing a new employment contract over the course of the winter after their last contract expired in November. The union agreed to an indefinite extension last fall before terminating the contract in January due to lack of progress in the bargaining process. The union then re-entered the contract extension in March to finish out the season.
That extension expired on May 1st.
KPCW reached out to both the union and PCMR and both parties confirmed that bargaining is scheduled to resume on May 17th with other sessions to be scheduled if necessary.
The union is hoping to secure a pay raise and expand access to sick time as part of a new contract and ultimately hope to make patrolling a more viable career option for medical and avalanche professionals. The union’s previous contract was negotiated in 2018.
The ski patrollers at PCMR voted 97-94 to unionize in 2015 after the merger of Park City and then-Canyons Resort.
Ski patrollers at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, another property owned by PCMR parent company Vail Resorts, narrowly voted 43-42 to unionize earlier this week.
PCMR Spokesperson Jessica Miller told KPCW the resort is “committed to reaching a new multi-year agreement” with the union.
