President of Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division Bill Rock oversees operations for Vail’s 42 resorts. He was also Park City Mountain’s chief operating officer from 2014 to 2019.
Rock came to town to personally attend a Dec. 16 bargaining session with the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association. After union negotiators walked out of their last meeting, Rock said both sides reiterated their commitments to reaching an agreement Monday.
“Probably some of the most promising news is that they agreed with our proposal to engage a mediator, which means we'll start a process to use a mediator to help us move negotiations forward,” Rock said.
Union members authorized a strike last week to address mounting frustrations with the lack of progress in contract negotiations. While a date has not been set, the organization says it’s prepared to strike if necessary.
If that happens, Rock said Park City Mountain will still be open for visitors.
“We want to assure our community, our employees, our guests, that Park City Mountain will remain open regardless of the union's activity, with safety as our top priority,” he said.
Union members say they believe Vail plans to bring in patrollers from other resorts to maintain operations if local workers strike. In an Instagram post, the union urged out-of-state patrollers not to cover those openings.
According to the local union, a strike is a last resort but a powerful bargaining tool. However, if other patrollers fill in during a strike, operations continue, weakening a union’s power to negotiate.
Park City Mountain ski patrollers and other mountain safety staff have been working without a contract since the last one expired in April. Both sides will follow the previous agreement until a new one is reached.
Rock said the two parties have reached tentative agreements on most of the contract, but negotiations on wages and benefits must still be agreed upon.
The local patrol union wants Vail to raise the patroller base wage from $21 to $23 per hour across all resorts to adjust for nationwide inflation. The group is fighting to increase compensation for more experienced patrollers as well. A new stipulation was recently added adjusting wages annually for inflation and cost of living so the contract doesn’t need to be renegotiated every couple of years.
Vail Resorts’ latest counteroffer included less than a 0.5% wage increase to entry-level patrollers and no increases to benefits. Rock notes Vail’s wage proposal offers a 4% wage increase and a $1,600 equipment allowance for returning patrollers.
“We have tremendous respect for our patrollers, and we've also demonstrated this by increasing wages by more than 50% over the last four seasons,” he said. “The average patroller makes $25 an hour right now.”
Rock said entry-level patrollers make an average of $22.40 per hour at Park City Mountain with experienced patrollers earning about $30 per hour.
However, president of Women of Patrol Kari Brandt previously told KPCW that $23 per hour “still feels low” for patrollers because they must be proficient in 10 skill areas, including medical care, avalanche rescue and hill safety.
Vail Resorts and the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association will meet again at the next bargaining session Dec. 18.
