Organizing Update

Ski Patrol Organizing Victory

About 200 ski patrol workers in Utah have come together for a voice in the workplace and voted to join CWA Local 7781, CWA District 7 Administrative Director Al Kogler reported.

The Park City, Utah, Combined Ski Patrol unit is made up of the former Canyons group (80 workers), which had CWA representation for about 15 years, and the Park City Mountain Resort group (115 workers), recently purchased by Vail Resorts. The employer went out of its way to make it difficult for the workers to organize.

In early October, Vail Resorts denied that integration of the two groups was imminent during negotiations with the Canyons group, only to come back about a week later and inform them that the integration was now complete. In order to stack the deck even further, the employer doubled the historical size of the Park City group this year and created a new mountain safety division. Vail then cut off negotiations because they claimed CWA no longer had a majority.

Ski patrol workers in Utah overcame heavy-handed tactics by their employer and came together to win representation by CWA Local 7781.

Despite a heavy handed anti-union campaign including a visit from Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz, a Jackson Lewis attorney from Chicago, these amazing workers worked tirelessly to keep their CWA voice. Cody Evans, Pete Earle, Lauren Edwards, Robbie Young and Mark Guffey led the team.

CWA Local 7781 (United Professional Ski Patrols of America) now represents about 400 workers in Park City, UT; Steamboat Springs, CO; Crested Butte, CO; and Telluride, CO. Please visit one of these CWA-represented resorts on your next visit to the Rockies for a ski vacation.