Ski patrollers at Eldora Mountain Resort have overwhelmingly approved unionized representation, but the company that owns the resort is challenging the results of the recent vote.
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An Eldora spokesman said the resort company “learned that improper conduct impacted the ability of our patrollers to participate in an election free of improper influence or coercion.”
Eldora objected to the fact that union representatives and ski patrollers did not want to include votes by volunteer ski patrollers.
“Patrollers have the right to vote. If certified, a union would represent all patrollers,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement. “Therefore, all patrollers deserve to have a voice and their vote considered.”
Eldora ski patrollers voted 29-3 to join the United Professional Ski Patrols of America union, which is part of the 700,000-worker Communications Workers of America district 7.
Paid patroller turnout for the election was 76% but about half of Eldora’s volunteer patrollers voted.
The Eldora patrollers are hoping to get benefits that include improved overtime pay, health insurance benefits and better pay for veteran workers.
“Our focus throughout this process has been to ensure that every patroller can trust that the election process is fair, that their voice and vote are appropriately considered, and that the final outcome is true and accurate,” reads the statement from the ski area spokesman.
The ski patroller union has grown in recent years as resort workers at Big Sky in Montana, Breckenridge, Loveland and Purgatory voted to unionize. Lift mechanics at Park City in Utah and Crested Butte Mountain Resort have joined the United Professional Ski Patrols of America. Patrollers at Aspen-Snowmass, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Park City, Steamboat, Stevens Pass in Washington and Telluride have been represented by unions for years.
This month, ski patrollers at Keystone voted to unionize in a 68-7 vote, reflecting a shift from the 2021 vote at the Summit County ski area that rejected unionization by a single vote. Patrollers at Whitefish ski area in Montana voted 24-1 last month to join the ski patroller union. Solitude patrollers in Utah also voted 23-10 to unionize this year while patrollers at Palisades Tahoe in California rejected collective bargaining in a 25-28 vote.
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The challenge from Eldora Mountain Resort owner Powdr is a first for the United Professional Ski Patrols of America.
“None of the other campaigns have encountered a company that is looking to decertify the vote and throw it out completely,” said Ryan Dineen, the president of the Breckenridge Ski Patrol union and local organizer for the United Professional Ski Patrols of America Local 7781, which now has 800 resort-worker members at nine ski areas, up from 130 in the early 2000s.
The National Labor Relations Board is scheduling a hearing to address the challenges and issues raised by both the ski patroller union and Eldora.
Patrollers at Vail Resorts-owned Breckenridge this season finalized a contract that improved pay and benefits for workers at the country’s busiest ski area. Patrollers at Park City Mountain Resort and Stevens Pass — both owned by Vail Resorts — will begin contract negotiations this year.
“Being able to share our contract progress at Breckenridge with other patrollers is motivating them,” Dineen said. “We fully expect the progress we have made in the last year will continue into next season.”
