SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, September 17, 2025—On Aug. 28, Park City Mountain bike patrollers voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America, forming the Park City Bike Patrol Association. The vote came after patrollers and trail workers petitioned over the summer to unionize. Credit David Jackson/Park Record

The move gives patrollers year-round union representation; many of the more than 50 full- and part-time members also work as ski patrollers in winter and until now lacked union protections during the summer season.  

Drew Seitz, a fourth-year ski patroller and third-year summer patroller, told the Park Record that the summer drive was a response to that gap in representation and a desire to have the same protections and bargaining power patrollers have in the winter year-round.  

Seitz said early goals include “wage increases to make the summer patrol a little bit more feasible for more people, and then we’d like to see a little bit more transparency in the hiring process.”  

According to reports, the group has filed two unfair labor practice charges, alleging that summer employees were subject to captive audience meetings, a practice the National Labor Relations Board has deemed unlawful.

Park City Mountain said it does not conduct captive audience meetings and has not yet received copies of any unfair labor practice charges. 

Jonny Marguet, a third-year bike patroller, described the meetings to KPCW, saying that though there were no direct threats of retaliation, management described ways the job would become more difficult following unionization.

“What I found most disappointing,” he added, “is that the work we do does not seem to be appreciated by our managers, who are further removed from day-to-day summer mountain operations.”

In a statement, resort COO Deirdra Walsh said, “While we believe that a direct relationship between our managers and employees creates the strongest team, we respect the outcome of this vote and remain committed to supporting all of our team members at Park City Mountain. Following certification by the National Labor Relations Board, we will work in good faith with the Communications Workers of America, the union representation chosen by our summer bike patrollers.”