Originally Posted by
summit
Well you have fallen for the union dream of "they must cave. We have all the power." Well, why not ask for $35/hr starting then? $40/hr? Why shouldn't a rookie patroller make as much as that communications senior manager? If your patroller union strategy is: "we'll make them look bad, piss off some customers, hit their stock prices, hit some revenue, use social pressure" and you conclude that is the ultimate high ground... well why not $50/hr?
Because the patrol doesn't have all the power. They do have some, but they can't dictate terms. Understand Vail fucked up hard core by not fixing this ahead of a conflict and strike, but now that they are here, look at VR's hand and strategic outlook vs your "why not $30/hr?":
$30/hr starting for PCMR patrol will be a neon sign in the sky to not just every patrol at every mountain, but every job to unionize and threaten to strike.
VR's business model probably doesn't work long term if labor costs rise 50%.
Vail has 42 mountains, so losing rev and rep at one sucks, but not as much as mass unionization and labor costs everywhere rising
Vail has FAR deeper pockets than those ski patrollers do. They can outslast them short term easy peasy. They can weather temporary stock price declines, lift line chants, and scoldings from the local government. The patrollers have bills to pay and the gofundme won't last long. They'll cave, or they'll quit.
$30/hr is far above what other low-barrier-to-entry jobs-with-perks start at, and almost double what new EMTs make in other jobs. That means that a crap ton of people will line up to work for lower than 30... oh wait they already have.
That's VR's strategy position.
