As of Monday evening, an online fundraiser for the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association had raised nearly $14,000 from more than 250 people. The president of the union, Brian Spieker, said the fund gives the union flexibility in its negotiations with Vail Resorts, which owns Park City Mountain Resort.
“I’m looking at it as a ‘snowy day insurance fund,’ if that would make sense,” Spieker said.
The fundraiser’s description calls it “a safety net in the event we are forced into more significant action and we are not receiving paychecks.”
If the union avoids what it calls a worst-case scenario and doesn’t end up using the money, leaders pledge to donate it to local charities and use some to help other ski patrol unions.
Ski patrollers are working without a contract after the previous deal lapsed last November. That means they’re allowed to strike and Vail Resorts is allowed to lock them out, though neither side says they want that to happen.
The patrollers continue to receive paychecks and are covered by health insurance. Changes to contracts in similar situations are generally applied retroactively.
Park City Mountain Resort COO Mike Goar said a work action like a strike or a lockout was not in the near future.
“You can categorize all of the different types of work stoppages, none of those...
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