"Left Out in the Cold: Exploring the Vulnerabilities of Seasonal Workers in the Ski Industry"

[Ski&ride]

Apparently not as they want foreign worker visas for workers. That is not market forces.

Frankly, this business of foreign worker visa for unskilled workers completely escaped me.

Ok, I get it if there’s “better” (paying jobs around. But if the unemployment is (was, few years back) above a certain %... that means there’re workers who look for but not finding jobs. Not even the kind of unskilled jobs as in scanning lift tickets! Yet we’re granting visa for Argentinians?

I’m lost in the logic.

 

[crgildart]

A fellow I worked with on my local patrol in NM got >50% pay raise, benefits, year-round work (trail crew) and an equipment allowance by going to one of the Aspen mountains to patrol. Coincidentally, the Aspen patrols are unionized, and very, very professional.

Now THAT'S "market forces" at work.

 

[HardDaysNight]

Now THAT'S "market forces" at work.

Yup, agree completely

 

[Pequenita]

That was an interesting read. Other than the seasonal aspect, it reminded me of many of the issues surrounding yoga teaching, which often hovers in the grey area of independent contractor status vs employee status.

I rode the lift last weekend with a newly hired liftie at Squaw. He’d been in the state/on the job for about 3 weeks. I presume that it’s because a number of staff had left for the season.

 

[Eleeski]

What's a living wage? Who's dying while working for the ski resorts? And should we really close our borders to the Chilean kids who are part of a mutually beneficial cultural exchange?

Ski labor is a small niche in the overall economy and world situation. People have lots of choices and options. Most ski workers accept being underpaid. A few make Lindsey Vonn, Warren Miller or Troy Caldwell fortunes but I'm not sure many chase that. They just like the skiing. Including the South American kids.

Skilled workers at Squaw are paid too much. They have bought fancy houses in Truckee and can't get to the resort when their commute is weather impacted so the resort can't open. Just kidding about the overpaid comment. I am happy that they can afford mountain houses. We do need to improve the transportation infrastructure. But that's another issue.

Eric

 

[mister moose]

so how much should lifties get paid?

There's an ad for Karrass seminars that reads: "You don't get paid what you're worth, you get paid what you negotiate". When that negotiation consists of wanting to live in a ski town, take a seasonal job and get a free pass, the salary tanks. Because the supply of available labor is in fact sufficient, wages don't go up, although the resorts do have to expend some effort to get it sometimes.

Apparently not as they want foreign worker visas for workers. That is not market forces.

It absolutely is market forces. The labor market includes the ability to obtain foreign visa workers, so rather than raise the wage, they utilize that program. Those visa programs depress wages.

Killington has volunteer ambassadors and some volunteer part time patrol. How much more of a low wage can you get than zero?

When I was a ski bum, I worked 2 jobs and had roommates. I drove an older car, and had to live in an outer town. I made more money at night as a waiter than I did on the hill. Has anything changed?

 

[Ski&ride]

They just like the skiing. Including the South American kids.

That’s what I always assumed, until I started talking to a few of them. Some of them don’t ski and have little interest in learning!

They came for seasonal work just like crop pickers!!!

And whatever wages they’re willing to accept set the floor of what the rest of the ski bums get paid.

 

[fatbob]

I always get the impression that the LatAm kids working as lifties etc are at least very middle class from wealthy families, doing it as much for the cultural experience and opportunity for some independence as the money. After all they are funding the airfare to the US before they start work.

 

[Core2]

The J1 workers also don't quit mid season and they still show up on powder days.

 

[Mike King]

A significant portion of our visitors in Aspen are from Latin America. Many of those guests want not only to have a ski instructor who is fluent in their native language, be it Spanish or Portuguese, but also is culturally aligned with their experience as well. So, a segment of the foreign workers Aspen seeks is to fulfill this demand, but that certainly doesn't account for the total amount of foreign workers that Aspen hires.

Mike

 

[Eleeski]

That’s what I always assumed, until I started talking to a few of them. Some of them don’t ski and have little interest in learning!

They came for seasonal work just like crop pickers!!!

And whatever wages they’re willing to accept set the floor of what the rest of the ski bums get paid.

Wrong of me to completely misrepresent things. They don't ski, they snowboard!

The Chilean kids I talked to (I had just gotten back from a trip to Chile) were wonderful nice enthusiastic kids who did love their time skiing or boarding.

The ones we really need to worry about are those Vermont lifties from Jay Peak flooding the market. Of course, we can blame that on foreigners and visas.

Eric