WHITEFISH — The Whitefish Mountain Resort Professional Ski Patrol — which formally unionized in March of 2024 — is still negotiating its first contract with Whitefish Mountain Resort.
“If there’s no ski patrol there would be nobody to come and help you if you were injured right, plain and simple,” said Whitefish Mountain Resort Professional Ski Patrol Union President Jamie Burkholder.
Anyone who skis at Whitefish Mountain Resort sees the men and women in red jackets taking care of avalanche control, hazard markers and injury accidents.
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“When we get treated better up there, we can treat our riding community better, with better care, open terrain faster, enjoy those powder days with everybody,” said Whitefish Mountain Resort Professional Ski Patrol Union Secretary Matthew Bagwill.
Bagwill said they are asking for higher wages and increased benefits as ski patrollers struggle to afford to live in the Flathead Valley.
“I found out I make 7¢ more than a McDonalds worker in this town, and just seeing that stark contrast, and let it be known I don’t think McDonald's workers should get paid less, I think we should all get paid livable wages,” said Bagwill.
Bagwill said another key component for unionizing is job security, noting ski patrollers want the assurance that they have their jobs back each winter.
“Right now, we have to reapply for our job every single year and that is hard to plan for your future, that’s hard to make plans especially whenever you put so much into the job, and you care about it so much.”
Union President Jamie Burkholder said they started negotiating contract articles with Whitefish Mountain Resort in July and are still working hard on agreements for different financial articles.
“We kind of understand that we may not get everything we want in our very first contract, but it needs to be acceptable with our memberships," Burkholder said.
MTN News reached out to Whitefish Mountain Resort for comment and received the following statement from President Nick Polumbus:
"We are committed to reaching a mutually beneficial agreement with our ski patrollers. We have engaged in 13 collective bargaining sessions over the past eight months, and we believe these sessions have been constructive. Both teams have negotiated in good faith and have agreed to significant contract articles.
While it has been approximately one year since patrollers voted to unionize, collective bargaining began several months later and both teams have worked in a cooperative, reciprocal manner to navigate this process. We recognize this is a long and involved process, but it is not unique to Whitefish Mountain Resort. Negotiations here have followed a similar timeline as those at other independent resorts, such as Loveland Ski Area in Colorado.
We believe we are in the home stretch. Both teams have spent a lot of time examining wages, benefits and training over the past couple of months. We are all committed to developing a progressive growth structure, and together we are working through the details. We look forward to reaching an amicable resolution and a future that delivers the best possible outcomes for all our employees."
An online petition has garnered more than 500 signatures in support of the ski patrol union.
“We were hopeful that the community would see the value of what we provide up there and give us support, but the amount that was and has been and continues to be given, it floors us, it’s awesome,” said Bagwill.
Closing day for the 2024/25 ski season at Whitefish Mountain Resort is Sunday, April 6.
