Locals may have heard honking and cheering over the weekend as Park City Mountain ski patrollers and other mountain safety staff rallied again.
Staff not scheduled to work held signs at two intersections Saturday: Deer Valley Drive and Park Avenue as well as Canyons Village Road and state Route 224.
The ski patrol association met with Vail Dec. 4 in the 21st bargaining session since the ski patrol and other mountain safety staff’s contracts expired in May.
The union wants Vail Resorts to raise the patrollers’ base wage from $21 to $23 per hour. Association spokesperson Margaux Klingensmith said this is to adjust for nationwide inflation.
“We have other resorts that are within an hour of ours that are offering $24, $26 an hour starting wage, and they [Vail Resorts] can't even agree to $23,” she said.
Klingensmith said the association also wants to maintain equal wages for non-unionized Vail employees and ensure employees with more experience and qualifications are properly compensated. She said after about five years on the job, patrollers’ wages don’t increase much.
“We have incredibly experienced, tenured patrollers with skill sets that make this mountain far safer for its guests, making just a couple bucks more than someone who just showed up and is about to spend their entire first season training,” she said.
According to the association, Vail offered less than a 0.5% wage increase across the unit at the last bargaining session. That would increase the base wage by less than 11 cents per hour. That counteroffer did not include increased benefits.
Park City Mountain Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh previously told KPCW “the average wage for ski patrollers across the company, including at Park City Mountain, has increased substantially — far outpacing the rate of wage inflation.”
She also said “there are no impacts — and will be no impacts — to mountain operations” during the negotiations.
Klingensmith said the union doesn’t want to strike but noted it remains an option.
“We're here because we're fighting for our workplace, trying to make it better so we can continue working here and make it a career,” she said. “But it feels like every time they come back with nothing for us, they just force us down one path.”
Klingensmith said the association hopes practice pickets like on Saturday will encourage Vail to bargain in good faith.
Both sides will follow the previous contract until a new agreement is reached.
Park City Mountain declined to comment further Saturday.
