Telluride Ski Resort was closed on Monday, December 29, for the third consecutive day amid a ski patrol union strike aimed at securing higher wages and will remain closed indefinitely.
Telluride Ski Resort said on social media, “As a result of the Ski Patrol’s decision to strike, we have made the difficult decision to close the resort on Saturday, December 27. At this time, we do not know how long the strike will last. We will continue working on a plan that allows us to reopen safely as soon as possible.”
The Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association is reportedly seeking approximately a 30 percent to 35 percent hourly wage increase. The resort’s most recent counteroffer was a 23 percent hourly wage increase.
Telluride’s ski patrol, which organized in 2015 under the United Mountain Workers (UMW), announced the strike earlier on Wednesday, December 24, citing a “$65,000 gap between 3-year proposals” that “reflects unwillingness from the company to fix a broken wage structure.”
Without citing specifics, the patrol’s public statements repeatedly cite a “broken wage structure” that has made it difficult to recruit and retain patrollers with the expertise needed to manage Telluride’s terrain.
Image courtesy CBS
