Labor Laws May Make Ski Slopes Lose International Flair
LIANE HANSEN, host:
The stereotypical scene at American ski resorts often includes a novice skier being taught how to negotiate the bunny slope by an accented, continental heartthrob.
(Soundbite of TV show, "Frasier")
Mr. JAMES PATRICK STUART (Actor): (As Guy) I am Guy.
Ms. JANE LEEVES (Actress): (as Daphne Moon) Daphne.
Mr. STUART: (As Guy) I hope you're ready to ski tomorrow. I'm going to work you very hard.
Ms. LEEVES: (As Daphne) Oh.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. LEEVES: (As Daphne) Dibs on the Frenchman.
HANSEN: That's a moment from the TV sitcom "Frasier." Actually, big ski resorts have long relied on foreigners to fill a range of jobs, from instructors to housekeepers.
But as Colorado Public Radio's Megan Verlee reports, changing visa rules and the economy are forcing ski country to find domestic help.
(Soundbite of snowmakers)
MEGAN VERLEE: Snowmakers hurl out glistening crystal clouds at Colorado's Loveland ski area on the eve of opening day. The Rocky Mountains are enjoying their earliest ski season in decades. But when visitors arrive to carve into that powder, they'll hear a lot fewer foreign accents from the employees serving them.
Melanie Mills, with the industry group Ski Country USA, says that's in part because of problems with the visa program used to bring in seasonal workers.
Ms. MELANIE MILLS (Ski Country USA): It's been very disappointing the last couple of years for employers because it seems like - that there's just one roadblock after another to using it effectively and to making it a workable program.
VERLEE: That's the H-2B visa program. It lets companies hire short-term foreign workers for jobs they can't find Americans to take. The H-2B program is capped at 66,000 visas annually. But for a long time, ski resorts could skirt that limit by hiring returning workers who are exempt.
Last year, the government started counting previous visa holders under the cap. By the time ski resorts started hiring, construction and landscaping companies had already snapped up most of the visas, leaving ski workers out in the cold.
Immigration attorney John Vealey(ph) says this year brought new problems for resorts.
Mr. JOHN VEALEY (Immigration Attorney): A law got passed that the employers had to pay for all the costs associated with the workers, which include travel cost. And some of these folks are flying from Australia and very distant points, and those expenses are really high.
VERLEE: Who pays the travel costs for these temporary work visas has long been a political football. In its final days, the Bush administration made that the workers' responsibility. In August, President Obama's Labor Department reversed that rule, arguing because employers can't fill these jobs without bringing people in from outside the country, they should bear the cost of travel.
But for many ski resorts already worried about a lean season, tens of thousands of dollars for plane tickets is money they just don't want to spend. Ski Country's Melanie Mills says the change disrupts what's become an annual migration among foreign ski instructors.
Ms. MILLS: It is part of the tradition of the sport that they work during the ski season in their home country. And then they follow the snow and come to Colorado when it's ski season here.
VERLEE: Some instructors make a career of that north-south migration, but many won't be coming back this year.
At the five major resorts owned by the Vail Company, international hiring is down 70 percent. Spokesperson Kelly Ladyga says her company doesn't just value foreign workers for their convenience.
Ms. KELLY LADYGA (Spokesperson, Vail Resorts): We've had a long history as a company of hiring people from countries around the world, because they contribute to not only the exceptional experiences we provide to our guests, but to the international flavor of our mountain resorts.
VERLEE: Visa troubles aren't the only reason why Vail and other resorts are using fewer foreign workers. With U.S. unemployment just under 10 percent right now, a lot more American workers are willing to take these seasonal jobs, even to relocate for them. Resorts across Colorado say their job applications are way up this year. And Ladyga says at Vail, they've also become more aggressive in their recruiting.
Ms. LADYGA: We've gone out strategically to places within the United States that complement our season - so places like Martha's Vineyard, National Park Systems, and some other properties that are really focused on the summer season.
VERLEE: Not having the rest of the world to compete against makes plenty of folks already in the mountains happy, too.
(Soundbite of coffee house)
VERLEE: At Clint's Coffee House in Breckenridge, barista Nicky Glazer(ph) rings up a few fall treats. She's waiting eagerly for winter, when her job as a ski instructor will begin. Glazer is fluent in Spanish and with fewer ski instructors coming up from South America this year, she expects to be in heavy demand. She says she will miss some of her foreign co-workers who aren't coming back.
Ms. NICKY GLAZER: But you know, work is work up here, so it's nice that we're getting these opportunities.
VERLEE: As long as the recession is bringing more American applicants to their jobs, and fewer skiers to their slopes, resorts say they're not too worried about the visa situation. But when the economy picks up and unemployment drops again, there will be a renewed push to get foreigners back to the mountains.
For NPR News, I'm Megan Verlee.
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