Unionize Yoga

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Unionization of Teachers at YogaWorks

Unionize Yoga is an initiative of yoga and mindful fitness educators at YogaWorks in New York, established in 2019. Yoga and movement teachers organized collectively with a mission of raising yoga industry standards and creating an equitable, sustainable profession, ultimately forming the first union for yoga and movement teachers and setting a precedent for additional yoga teacher unionizations worldwide.

On September 9, 2019, Machinists Union officials and the teachers at the four New York studios asked YogaWorks to recognize the New York teachers' union, known as 'Unionize Yoga' — the first union in the United States to include yoga instructors.

The teachers' union received support from U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, and Elizabeth Warren and Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer. On November 18, 2019, the results of the union election were announced — YogaWorks New York teachers voted 'yes' by majority to unionize.

After years of financial struggles, exacerbated by the CoVid-19 pandemic, YogaWorks closed its New York studios permanently on April 19, 2020, giving employees a week's notice before layoff and effectively dissolving the union.

In April 2020, organizers gave a talk at the Organizing 2.0 conference titled How Yoga Teachers Used Social Media to Organize, Reach Allies, and Win Their Union which outlined their digital strategy and organizing techniques.

Organizing in Baltimore

In September 2019, YogaWorks teachers in Baltimore reached out to the YogaWorks New York organizers to learn about organizing strategies in hopes of starting their own unionization campaign. Baltimore teachers at YogaWorks began organizing in November 2019. The Baltimore campaign was set to go public on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, YogaWorks closed its studio on Light Street in Federal Hill. All YogaWorks studios in the Baltimore region closed their doors in September 2020.

Current Initiatives

Since the closure and bankruptcy of YogaWorks, Unionize Yoga has expanded into an open teachers' collective that functions as a clearinghouse of information for teachers interested in organizing, moving beyond the yoga and fitness studio system, and forming coops.

The organizing body of Unionize Yoga is comprised of yoga teachers or union organizers working on a volunteer basis. The group makes decisions through consensus, rotates meeting facilitation roles, and distributes labor so the group is horizontally-run.

In 2020, Unionize Yoga launched Our Stories, a micro essay series that explores how yoga teachers and students cope during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as live online conversations on unionizing, building cooperatives, equity and diversity in the yoga industry, and maintaining yoga community during physically-distanced times.

Unionize Yoga focuses on resourcing yoga communities though education on unionizing and building cooperative workplaces. Unionize Yoga is committed to building economic, racial, and gender justice in the wellness profession.

External Links

• Unionize Yoga Instagram page

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