Park City ski patrollers and Vail Resorts clash again — this time over paid time off

Park City Mountain's ski patrol union has filed for arbitration against Vail Resorts, escalating a new labor dispute over a paid time-off benefit the union says was extended to nonunion patrols but withheld from its members.

The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association announced it has taken the dispute to arbitration after what it described as repeated failed attempts to resolve the matter through direct negotiations with management. At the center of the conflict is a benefit called Recovery Time Off — known as RTO — which allows ski patrollers to take paid leave for mental health, vacation, or physical rehabilitation.

The union contends that Vail Resorts rolled out the benefit to nonunion ski patrol operations at its Colorado resorts and, under the terms of its collective bargaining agreement, is therefore obligated to extend the same benefit to the Park City Mountain patrol.

"We are disappointed that Vail Resorts does not view PCPSPA as worthy of valuable time off to recoup in order to continue providing the highest level of care, especially following a particularly traumatic season due to low snow conditions," the association said in a press release.

The dispute marks another chapter in a tense relationship between the union and the Colorado-based resort giant. Park City Mountain ski patrollers went on strike in early January 2025, a work stoppage that drew widespread attention and raised questions about the resort's reputation and operations.

Vail says the union must negotiate for new terms

Vail Resorts pushed back on the union's framing, saying that wages, benefits, and other working conditions for the Park City patrol are governed by its existing collective bargaining agreement — and that any new benefits require a formal negotiation.

"When the union is seeking new terms, that requires a negotiation and an amendment to their agreement. We offered to reopen their agreement to negotiate the additional time off they are seeking, but the patrol declined. Instead, they are taking this issue to arbitration under the agreement, and we'll reach a resolution through that process," the company said in a statement.

The union, however, rejected Vail's offer to reopen the contract, saying it came with an unacceptable condition: a three-year contract extension. The association argued that locking itself into a lengthy extension would undermine its ability to advocate for its members as workplace and economic conditions evolve.

"It is not only disrespectful but a direct violation of our CBA to not grant us RTO and make us beg for a benefit we already negotiated. A contract extension makes us unable to advocate and secure better working conditions as our workplace and economic environment is constantly changing," the union said.

Arbitration hearing set for September

An independent arbitrator is scheduled to hear arguments from both sides in September. The arbitrator will review the collective bargaining agreement and issue a binding ruling on whether Vail Resorts is required to extend the Recovery Time Off benefit to Park City patrollers.

The outcome could have broader implications for how Vail Resorts manages benefit parity between its union and nonunion workforce across its portfolio of resorts.