(In paragraph 9 the corrections indicate that one-day tickets were only suspended on Mondays, not that they were suspended on Mondays and Tuesdays)
(Reuters) – Holiday skiers at Utah's Park City (NYSE:), the largest U.S. ski resort, reported on social media that they encountered long lift lines and closed trails on Tuesday as a strike by ski patrol workers entered its fifth day.
Nearly 200 ski patrol and security workers are on strike to demand more pay at the company-owned Park City Mountain Resort. Vail Resorts Inc (NYSE:), is seeking a base salary of $23 an hour, up from the current $21, according to an emailed statement from the ski patrol union.
This week is the busiest ski week of the year.
Park City remained open Tuesday, and most ski resorts were still operating, Vail Resorts said in an emailed statement. The company said in an email that it does not disclose employee numbers.
The union, the Park City Professional Ski Patrol, said in an email that there were 120 skiers, but on Tuesday it was between 30 and 35.
The union, in a post on social media, said Vail Resorts “flew away” other resorts to operate in Park City.
Sara Huey, a spokeswoman for Vail Resorts, said in an email that the company has met 24 of the union's 27 demands since the ski patrol contract expired in April. He did not provide details on the demands the company did not meet.
Huey said Vail has raised ski patrol wages more than 50% over the past four ski seasons, pushing the average hourly wage to more than $25.
The 7,300-acre ski resort did not sell single-day tickets Monday, but resumed single-day tickets Tuesday, Huey said.
Vail Resorts operates more than a dozen ski resorts, including Vail and Breckenridge in Colorado, Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada, and Stowe in Vermont.