Industry News
The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) has officially taken legal action against Vail Resorts by filing for arbitration, alleging a violation of their current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The dispute centers on the company’s refusal to extend a new benefit to the unionized Park City unit that has already been implemented for non-unionized patrols at other Vail-owned properties.
The benefit in question, known as Recovery Time Off (RTO), is designed to provide patrollers with paid time off for mental health, vacation, or physical rehabilitation. According to a press release issued by the PCPSPA and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) on May 13, 2026, the benefit was granted to non-unionized patrols in Colorado, a move the union argues should have triggered a similar rollout for the Park City team under the terms of their agreement.
“Filing for arbitration comes after numerous meetings with management and on the heels of the company publicly claiming to invest time and money into fostering a better working relationship with PCPSPA,” the association stated. Union leadership expressed disappointment, noting the importance of the benefit following what they described as a “particularly traumatic season due to low snow conditions.”
The PCPSPA is a member of CWA Local 7781, also known as the United Mountain Workers of America. The CWA represents unionized ski industry professionals across several major resorts in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and Washington. The organization emphasized that the arbitration is a necessary step to secure equitable working conditions for patrollers, whose roles involve high-risk tasks in adverse terrain.
In an email to SnowBrains, a Vail Resorts spokesperson responded to the PCPSPA’s press release, writing:
“The Park City Ski Patrol union’s wages, benefits, and other terms are set in their Collective Bargaining Agreement. 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.”
With both sides now firmly entrenched in their legal positions, a September arbitration hearing will serve as the final decider on whether “Recovery Time Off” is an automatic right under existing contracts or a new benefit that must be bargained for from scratch. For the Park City patrollers, the case is about equity and health following a grueling winter; for Vail Resorts, it is a matter of strict adherence to the established collective bargaining process. Regardless of the outcome, the ruling will likely set a significant precedent for how future benefits are rolled out across both union and non-union mountain resorts.
