State of the Unions

The number of U.S. ski area employees, namely patrollers and lift mechanics, represented by a union has nearly doubled since 2021. Most are represented by the United Professional Ski Patrols of America (UPSPA) CWA Local 7781, which counts among its members more than 700 ski patrollers and lift maintenance staff at 10 resorts in four states including Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Washington. 

Lift mechanics and electricians at Colorado’s Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) became the most recent to unionize in July, when they voted 7-to-3 to form the Crested Butte Lift Maintenance Professional Union, the second U.S. ski area lift maintenance crew to take such action. In 2022, Park City Mountain Resort, Utah, lift maintenance employees voted 35-to-6 in favor of formalizing the Park City Lift Maintenance Professional Union. While each union has its own name, they all fall under the auspices of the UPSPA.