Across the mountain towns of Victoria’s high country, many people are employed through Alpine Resorts Victoria (ARV) which is a statutory authority which manages the state’s ski resorts. It was created in 2021 by merging Victoria’s four alpine resort management boards (Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Mt Buller, Mt Stirling, Lake Mountain and Mt Baw Baw resorts).

ARV staff carry out many roles that allow the smooth functioning of the resorts, for instance road clearing, ski patrol, rubbish removal, communications and marketing.

In recent months, there have been negotiations between ARV staff and the authority over a new employment agreement that will cover working conditions. This has been happening as a result of the merger of the different resorts, and aims to ‘harmonise’ the various agreements into a single agreement. According to the union (the Australian Workers Union, or AWU), issues raised in these negotiations ‘have included inadequate conditions, lack of weekend penalty rates and the need for compensation for extreme weather shifts’.

AWU regional organiser James Newbold was quoted in the June edition of Mt Hotham Falls Creek News as saying the negotiations pose a ‘once in a life time opportunity for the alpine industry to fix the discrimination they’ve faced in their award and their enterprise agreements for decades, where they get inferior conditions to the rest of the workforce’.

Now it has been reported that negotiations have been unsuccessful and the union is now applying for protected industrial action after taking a ballot of its membership at the resorts. The ballot of members resoundingly supported taking action.

In a recent post on their social media, the union says:

‘It’s time for fair treatment and recognition of the hard work done by ARV employees in Victoria’s alpine regions. For too long, they’ve faced inadequate conditions, missing out on weekend penalty rates and compensation for extreme weather shifts.

From snow clearing to ski patrolling, their dedication keeps our alpine areas safe and enjoyable, yet they’ve received no extra payment for their efforts. It’s time for change’.

We will update this post as the story develops.

It is not expected that any industrial action which may happen will impact on people who are visiting the resorts.

 

For further information, check the AWU facebook page.