Eldora Ski Patrollers’ Vote to Unionize Faces Challenges

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SAM Magazine—Nederland, Colo., April 12, 2024—Ski patrollers at Eldora Ski Resort in Colorado recently voted to unionize. ELDORA

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now reviewing several challenges to the vote filed by the union and by POWDR, which owns Eldora. Under federal labor law, those challenges must be resolved before the vote is certified.

The vote was 29-3 in favor of unionizing among Eldora’s professional ski patrollers, according to Max Magill, a Park City ski patroller and president of the United Professional Ski Patrols of America union, Local 7781 of the Communications Workers of America.

Fourteen volunteer ski patrollers also voted, but because their votes were challenged by the union, the results were not disclosed.

Magill said the key issues behind the ski patrollers’ pro-union vote at Eldora included the need for living wages, better overtime pay rules, and improvements in workplace facilities—such as a bathroom and lockers in patrol headquarters. Many of these issues are common to workers in all ski towns, he said.

“We don’t want to come across as saying ski resorts are to blame,” he said. “We want them to succeed, because when they do, our members do better.”

Still, Magill said the union organizing effort faced “fairly harsh” opposition from Eldora management. An Eldora spokesperson, while praising patrollers’ “unwavering commitment” to ensuring guest safety at the mountain, said, “We believe a union would not benefit our patrollers, employees, guests, or our company.”

The company spokesperson said that patroller retention at the mountain has been good—about 85 percent last season—and that paid patroller staffing has increased from 24 in 2016-17 to 42 in 2023-24.

“Eldora pays its patrollers a competitive wage above the state average and above unionized resorts elsewhere, despite being a seasonal operation,” the spokesperson said, noting starting rates of $19 per hour that can rise up to $27 per hour based on experience and certifications attained.

In challenging the vote, Eldora alleged misconduct by the union, including “intimidating patrollers into not voting, mischaracterizations of the workplace, and other actions specifically designed to disenfranchise volunteer patroller voters.”

Magill said the union’s view is that volunteer patrollers don’t belong in the union because central issues like pay and overtime don’t apply to them, and that volunteers would still benefit from gains won through collective bargaining, such as improvements in workplace conditions.

Also at issue is how unpaid volunteers would pay union dues, he said.

“We feel quite confident that we will win these challenges,” said Magill. There is no firm timeline on the review and decision making by NLRB, however, he said.

Report by Bob Curley