WHITEFISH — We have an update on a story we brought you last spring regarding the Whitefish Mountain Resort Professional Ski Patrol formally unionizing.
The ski patrol union has reached a short-term agreement with Whitefish Mountain Resort on its first contract.
“We have the main nuts and bolts of the contract tentatively agreed upon; there’s a couple little loose ends that need to happen before we can hold a vote to ratify the contract," said Whitefish Mountain Resort Professional Ski Patrol Union President Jamie Burkholder.
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Burkholder said the agreement is only in place for this upcoming ski season.
“A goal is to obviously have a longer-term contract, but this was a good way to get something in the books and be working under an active contract for at least the current time frame.”
Burkholder said priorities during negotiations focused on increased benefits, educational training, and job security for patrollers.
He says the two sides were unable to reach a full agreement on livable wages.
“Our primary goal was to have nobody living at less than the minimal livable wage for our area, and that’s not something we’re achieving in this first one, which is part of why the short duration is attached to this particular situation,” said Burkholder.
Both parties declined to talk about specific details in the agreement, as a final vote still needs to take place before a contract is ratified.
Whitefish Mountain Resort spokesman Chad Sokol said the resort is happy to have an agreement in place before the new ski season gets underway on December 4.
“We’re happy to have an agreement in place for this season, and negotiations will resume in the spring. Obviously, we would prefer to have a contract that’s in place longer than just one year,” said Sokol.
