As Vail Resorts and striking Park City Mountain ski patrolers negotiated Tuesday, the Utah resort town’s mayor and City Council urged the company to end the conflict “without further delay.”
Mayor Nann Worel said in a statement that she and the Park City Council recognize that resort communities face significant livability challenges, and it is the workforce that all too often shoulders the weight of today’s economic pressures. Supporting a professional workforce is essential to the health, safety and vitality of the town, she said.
“After yet another weekend of confusion and disruption due to the unresolved labor dispute at Park City Mountain, the City Council and I urgently call on Vail Resorts to take immediate action to conclude negotiations and end the uncertainty,” according to the statement.
“Park City Mountain is a cornerstone of Park City’s community well-being, and it is Vail Resorts’ responsibility as an essential employer to resolve this conflict without further delay.”
Worel said the city is ready to assist in any way necessary to help bring this matter to a resolution, and asked “everyone for civility and respectful behavior toward each other during this challenging time.”
Park City’s workforce
A 2023 affordable housing analysis by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute found that 12% of Park City’s workforce lives in town, a figure that falls below a city government goal of 15%, according to a KPCW radio story.
A majority of Park City’s workers commute from elsewhere. The Gardner report found 37.5% of those working in the town live in Summit County, including the 12% in Park City, while 62.5% live outside the county. Just over a quarter commute from Salt Lake County, while 17.5% travel from neighboring Wasatch County for work. Smaller numbers come from Utah, Davis and Weber counties.
The town’s economy hinges on the service, entertainment, recreation and retail industries. On average, workers in those sectors make about $3,500 per month, far below the median income of Park City renters, which is over $6,600 per month, per KPCW.
Why ski patrol went on strike
About 200 members of the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association went on strike Dec. 27 amid the busy holiday season between Christmas and New Year’s Day. In addition to wanting a $2 starting wage increase to $23 an hour, the union is seeking holiday pay, an in-season health care stipend, flex time off, a cost-of-living adjustment, a better pay scale for experienced patrolers and more accessible parental leave.
The association’s contract with Vail Resorts, Park City Mountain’s parent company, expired last April. The two sides have been unable to reach agreement on a new contract since talks began nearly nine months ago. They agreed to mediation, with negotiating sessions scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Vail countered that ski patrol wages at Park City Mountain have increased more than 50% over the past four seasons, far outpacing inflation, to $25 an hour on average. The day the union went on strike, its wage demands averaged $7 an hour more per patroler, not $2 an hour, and does not include the value of other benefits and compensation it asked for, according to Vail.
Mountain of complaints
The dispute has led to many unhappy skiers and snowboarders who have complained about crowded slopes, long lift lines and lack of open terrain. It also is tarnishing the image of one the premier ski and snowboard areas in the U.S.
“We are meeting with the union nearly every day and working hard to reach an agreement, with both parties negotiating in good faith. We remain committed to safely operating Park City Mountain for our guests and employees, and this week lift lines have been under 10 minutes on average,” Bill Rock, president of Vail Resort’s Mountain Division, said in a statement Tuesday.
Since the strike began, the resort has opened more than 50 additional trails and has nearly 2,300 acres of skiable terrain, according to Vail.
As of Tuesday, 26 of the resort’s 41 lifts were running, providing access to 104 of 350 trails. Park City Mountain has yet to open expert runs on the upper mountains on both the Park City and Canyons side of the massive resort.