Latest news with #ShannonBuhler
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Keystone Ski Patrollers and Vail Resorts Have Reached a Tenative Contract
After some beef that played out on social media, Vail Resorts and the Keystone Resort ski patrollers have reached an agreement on a contract, according to an Instagram post from the Keystone Ski Patrol Union and the United Mountain Workers. 'The union's bargaining committee is unanimously endorsing ratification by its unit with a vote scheduled to conclude by 7 p.m. on February 22, 2025,' the Keystone Ski Patrol said. 'Together, the resort and. Union are looking forward to a great rest of the season. Until contract ratification, neither party will be accepting media requests.' If the contract is ratified, it will put an end to the latest chapter in Vail's battle with a patroller's union. Ski patrollers at Park City Resort went on strike before the holiday rush, and cited Vail's inability to negotiate a fair wage and benefit package. The strike caused a ripple of disruption in the day-to-day operations at Park City during the week following Christmas, which is historically the busiest time of the year at ski resorts. That strike was ended when an agreement was reached on January Keystone Ski Patrol Union (KSPU) met with Vail on January 22, 2025 to talk about the company's latest counter offer to a contract negotiation. In the meeting, Vail told the union that it doesn't want patrollers to prioritize medical care, and asked for patrollers to transport them off of the mountain, KSPU's Jake Randall said in a press a response, the union asked for patrons of Keystone to provide written testimony highlighted times in which they needed medical assistance from patrollers. Vail disputed this assessment in public statements. 'Fact: Keystone Resort is not questioning, nor have we ever questioned, the need or value for patrollers to have advanced medical care skills,' a letter to employees from Keystone VP and General Manager Shannon Buhler says. 'We recognize, appreciate, and are proud of the frontline care our patrollers provide to our guests, and our proposal includes individualized skills-based pay for medical certifications.'The current starting wage of $21.50 per hour is not enough for the region's cost of living or the ski area's workload, the ski patrol union said in a December Instagram post. 'Ski patrolling is a highly specialized job that's often misunderstood. At Keystone, we're not just first responders; we're a full-fledged EMS service responsible for medical calls, avalanche mitigation, technical rescues, and outdoor emergency care,' the post said. 'Despite our critical skills and responsibilities, most of us earn below a living wage in Summit County. Many of us can't afford housing and must work multiple jobs just to get by. While this struggle is common in the area, we believe the expertise and dedication required for our work should allow us to live in the community we serve.'
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Keystone VP Claims Unionized Ski Patrollers Are Lying
Shannon Buhler, Vice President and General Manager of Keystone Resort, Colorado, has accused a group of unionized ski patrollers of sharing inaccurate information about ongoing contract negotiations. Earlier this ski season, Vail Resorts—the parent company of Keystone Resort—and the recently formed Keystone Ski Patrol Union (KSPU) began negotiating to determine a new contract. Similar to the patrollers at Park City Mountain Resort that garnered international attention for their strike over the New Years 2025 Holiday, The KSPU is seeking higher wages and better benefits that could make living in the expensive Summit County, Colorado—where Keystone Resort is located—more week, on Wednesday, the two parties met. Following their discussion, the KSPU shared a press release with POWDER, stating that during the negotiations, Vail Resorts 'signaled to the union that they do not want their patrollers to prioritize medical care for injured guests, and instead simply transport them off the mountain.'The KSPU also wrote that Vail Resorts 'questioned the importance of patrollers with higher medical certifications, such as nurses and paramedics who can perform advanced lifesaving procedures in the field.' The KSPU called this stance 'deeply problematic' for ski patrollers and public safety. However, in an email sent to Keystone Resort employees on Sunday, January 26, Keystone VP/GM Buhler wrote that the KPSU's description of the negotiations was false. 'I recognize that there may be different perspectives and opinions when it comes to the topic of unions, and I respect our employees' right to voice their opinion,' she wrote. 'And it is important to be sure there is no misinformation about this process.'Buhler claimed that Keystone Resort is not questioning the value of patrollers with advanced medical care skills, reducing wages for patrollers with higher medical certifications, or removing specialty team skills-based pay and individualized skills-based pay for Monday, the KSPU bargaining team sent an internal email to Keystone Resort ski patrollers, addressing Buhler's rebuttal. In the email, the KSPU bargaining team wrote that one of Buhler's points—that Keystone Resort is not reducing wages for patrollers with higher medical certifications—was somewhat true, and perhaps addressed a poorly phrased worded Instagram post the unionized patrollers published (the KSPU has since updated the Instagram post). 'We will take ownership of ways we could have communicated this better,' the KSPU email reads. 'Reducing wages is probably not the most accurate, and the sentiment we tried to convey is that the company is fighting to keep [Advanced Life Support] pay down.'Other portions of Buhler's letter, though, according to the KSPU email, contained incorrect information. In one anecdote presented in the email, the KSPU claimed that Vail Resorts' lawyer present during the negotiations profusely questioned the bargaining team about the need for Advanced Life Support treatment, like providing IVs to injured skiers and snowboarders on the Randall, a member of the KSPU bargaining team, told POWDER regarding Buhler's email, 'We believe that they are intentionally spreading this misinformation to try to divide the patrol right now.'In response to Buhler's email, the KSPU filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board Sunday night against Vail Resorts for bargaining in bad faith, according to Resorts remains steadfast. 'We stand behind the facts shared in Shannon Buhler's letter to employees yesterday,' Sara Lococo, the Senior Communications Manager for Breckenridge Ski Resort and Keystone Resort told POWDER, via email.'When our team met with the union last week to share our proposal on wages and benefits, it was productive and positive, and we left that room feeling like we were very close to an agreement,' she to Lococo, the KSPU and Vail Resorts have another meeting scheduled for the evening of January the first to read breaking ski news with POWDER. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of skiing. From ski resort news to profiles of the world's best skiers, we are committed to keeping you informed.
