Members of the Telluride ski patrol will soon vote on whether to form a union, according to the Telluride Daily Planet. The report said patrollers filed a petition with National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 2 to have an election, which at least 30 percent of the group signed.
All full-time and regular part-time ski patrollers, dispatchers and snowmobilers employed by Telluride ski resort, about 55 people in all, are eligible to vote for collective bargaining by Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 7. Mail-in ballots will be collected by the National Labor Relations Board in Denver and counted on Feb. 26.
Al Kogler, administrative director for organizing CWA District 7, said workers generally unionize because they want dignity and respect in the workplace, they want to be treated fairly and equitably, and they want to be paid fairly and equitably. “There are issues there in all three of those areas, they have been trying to work with management and have been shut out of that process,” Kogler told the Telluride Daily Planet.
The CWA currently represents ski patrollers at three other mountains including Steamboat, Crested Butte, Colorado and The Canyons, Utah.