Utah is, of course, a right-to-work state, meaning labor unions here lack the power that they hold in states that are not classified as such. The labor movement in Utah is sometimes loud and visible, but there’s only so much they can accomplish.
That makes what is occurring at Park City Mountain Resort so fascinating. The resort is owned by publicly traded Vail Resorts in Colorado, a firm with a multibillion-dollar market capitalization. But it has been shown in Park City that even a company with that value, and with a global portfolio like Vail Resorts, cannot operate without the support of its workers.
The efforts by the PCMR mechanics and electricians to form a union is the latest illustration. The mechanics and electricians would be the first in the nation at a mountain resort to unionize if the drive is successful.
They would follow the PCMR ski patrol in unionizing. The union representing the ski patrol has appeared to make strides with management, negotiating a multiyear agreement in early 2022 that addressed wages. That deal averted the possibility of a strike during a busy time of the ski season.
The mechanics and electricians are not as visible as the ski patrollers, but their role at the resort is as critical. They make sure the equipment thousands of skiers and snowboarders use each day is safe and operational.
While ski patrollers are there to ensure the protection of people who are on the slopes, the mechanics and electricians are there to ensure the protection of those gliding above the snow. They must contend with the same difficult working conditions in the winter and they require specialized skills, just like ski patrollers.
A union would be expected to address standard issues like pay and benefits for the mechanics and electricians. The skiing and snowboarding public would be well served if those working on the lifts are compensated in line with the skills and experience they bring to the resort.
PCMR, we all realize, has had a difficult year. The negotiations with the ski patrol union at the beginning of 2022 seem so far off at this point after the rest of the most recent winter was so widely criticized for reasons associated with crowds.
It would be a relief to those associated with PCMR, and the rest of the community, if the resort management and the mechanics and electricians can quickly reach an accord, before there is the chance of a picket line during ski season.