“Bandaid On Gunshot Wound” Telluride Ski Patrol Union Rejects Newest Offer, Strike Continues (Resort Reopens Monday)
Telluride Ski Resort in southwest Colorado will officially reopen on Monday as the ski patrol enters the second week of their strike. The resort will only partially operate starting on January 5th as they plan on running Lift 1, the children’s learning center carpet and Meadows magic carpet.
Telluride Ski Resort’s reopening announcement was paired with a same day update on their negotiations with Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association (TPSPA) as they have revised their last, best and final offer in an attempt to “bridge the gap between the two parties.” The revised proposal now totals $81,500 for each year of the contract and includes the following provisions:
- Three year contract.
- Complexity pay bonus equal to $1.50 for all hours worked, including overtime hours, paid out mid-season and end of season
- Increased base rate for Station Leads to $41 per hour
- Annual increases tied to cost-of-living adjustment in year two and year three
Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association (TPSPA) has rejected the offer and responded to it with this statement:
“We started the day encouraged by open conversation, and were disappointed to see more misleading information in the press. We will continue conversations to work towards a resolution.” TPSPA
Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association (TPSPA) went on with a further explanation of why they have not accepted the most recent offer and will continue to strike:
“The recent email from Telluride Ski and Golf included their new offer to patrol. They did not bring more money to the table, they just moved it around. They reduced the COLA (cost of living adjustment) from their previous offer in year 2 and 3, moving it over to the new “complexity bonus”. The difference in proposals is relatively the same.
Going to the press in the middle of negotiations, and delivering a deceptive proposal is not negotiating in good faith. The company continues to use intimidation, bad faith bargaining and unfair labor practices instead of treating us as equals at the table.
The company is advertising its proposal as more money, yet it appears to simply shift funds around from the previous offer — a move that feels deceptive and undermines trust at the table. Going to the press mid-negotiation feels more like an intimidation tactic, than a genuine effort to inform. We are working towards a solution that benefits both parties. We have not yet arrived at that solution.
Today, the company went to the press in the middle of our session, and sent an email update with their new offer, but left some important info out. A “complexity bonus” is not an adequate substitution for a well built wage structure. It is an addition that could be withheld. Accepting this would be putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound, which is what we’ve been looking to avoid from the beginning.”
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