While union ski patrollers walk a picket line at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, on strike for better pay and working conditions, officials at Arapahoe Basin are awaiting the results of an upcoming election that could result in the formation of a patrollers union there.
More than 70% of A-Basin’s patrollers signed a petition supporting organizing efforts last month; it has since been filed with the National Labor Relations Board. Patrollers will vote on whether to unionize on Jan. 8 and Jan. 11.
“Our position is that we’re professionals, we care deeply about our jobs and deeply about our guests,” said Che Caballero, who has served on the A-Basin patrol for eight years. “We want to elevate our guest experience by elevating our own position through democratic process. The collectivization and unionizing efforts really spur from the fact that we want to have a seat at the table and give ourselves a little bit more of a legitimate bargaining power as a tool to make our staff happier, and through that, give the guests the best experience we can possibly give them.”
Caballero added that patrollers there have always had “a really good relationship” with management. Last month, Denver-based Alterra Mountain Company took ownership of the 78-year-old area at the foot of Loveland Pass.
“We know each other personally,” Caballero said. “All of our direct supervisors and managers make a huge effort to listen and to understand where we come from. That level of respect is reciprocated by us, and will continue to be reciprocated by us in the future. This is not an adversarial thing. I think we’re all in agreement that we want to have a more professional level of conversations about what we want out of a contract with Arapahoe Basin and with Alterra.”
Alan Henceroth, who has been at Arapahoe Basin for 36 years and is its chief operating officer, has kept his position following the sale to Allterra.
“Arapahoe Basin is an extraordinary resort providing incredible experiences for our guests and employees for almost 80 years,” Henceroth said in a statement. “We take pride in being a transparent and equitable employer and are committed to continuing that while we work through this process with our ski patrol.”
Almost half of Colorado’s ski resorts have unionized ski patrols. They include Eldora, Loveland, Keystone, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Telluride, Purgatory, Steamboat and the four Aspen mountains.
Keystone, Breckenridge and Crested Butte are owned by Vail Resorts, which also owns Park City, where the employees are striking. Patrols at the other Vail Resorts holdings in Colorado, Vail and Beaver Creek, are not unionized.
“I can confirm that Vail Resorts has recruited management-level patrollers from various ski patrols throughout the west to be in Park City in preparation for this (strike) to be replacement workers,” said Ryan Dineen, a Breckenridge ski patroller who also is an organizer for the United Mountain Workers, adding that some traveled to Park City from Breckenridge.
“If members of my supervisor group at Breckenridge are going to help break a strike, that causes potential conflict among our patrollers at home,” Dineen said. “That creates an erosion of trust, perhaps. I feel like the company is disregarding the value of the trust among our own patrol. I know people who are there right now as replacement workers, and I know how hard it is for them to be there.”
In a statement provided by Park City Mountain Resort, chief operating officer Deirdra Walsh said management there was “deeply disappointed” that patrollers walked out of mediation talks and disrupted mountain operations during the holiday season, when ski resorts are loaded with visitors.
“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,” Walsh said. “All planned terrain will be open thanks to experienced patrol leaders from Park City Mountain and our other mountain resorts.”
A news release from the United Mountain Workers (Local 7781 of the Communication Workers of America), said nearly 200 patrollers went on strike and joined a picket line.
“Vail Resorts forced this work stoppage by bargaining in bad faith and repeatedly violating the National Labor Relations Act,” the union said. “The livelihoods of these employees, and the safety and experience of the skiing public, are bearing the cost of these anti-union tactics.”
Dineen couldn’t offer information on wages paid by other ski resort companies but said the entry-level hourly wage for patrollers at Vail Resorts ski areas is $21. The vast majority of patrollers are seasonal employees who have to find other work outside of ski season. Many spend their summers working as river rafting guides or climbing guides.
Dineen has been a Breckenridge patroller for 13 years, calling it “the best job I’ve ever had.” Caballero said he loves working at A-Basin.
“I think overall, we have a very good experience,” Caballero said. “The Basin has treated us all really well in the past. It’s not that anything has happened that has made us disgruntled, it’s just that it’s been talked about for a few years, tossed around as hypotheticals. We’re looking for a legitimate seat at the table to bargain for ourselves. Not to say we haven’t been listened to, it’s just that we’re ready to take it to the next step and make this something that is a viable career option long-term.”