Photo: Stígur Már Karlsson /Heimsmynd/Getty Images One of the nation’s top yoga studio chains takes its name from a simple slogan. The company calls itself YogaWorks, according to its website, because yoga works for every body. But that inclusive message, employees say, doesn’t extend to the company’s labor practices — and in order for it to live up to its lofty ideals, it must change. Now they’re ready to force it to try.
Though YogaWorks classifies teachers as employees, which entitles them to certain rights and benefits — a rarity for the industry — many say it’s difficult to qualify for the company’s health insurance. To do so, teachers have to lead at least ten classes per week, but for most, the standard is prohibitively onerous. No one interviewed by the Cut currently has insurance through YogaWorks.
Low pay and professional instability can block anyone who isn’t financially comfortable from entering the field, and teachers believe these barriers disproportionately burden women of color. Toya Williford, who teaches part-time for YogaWorks, told New York that she believes that teachers are “vastly underpaid and undervalued, especially within the YogaWorks structure.” She added, “I’m an African-American woman and I have found very few women of color in the industry.
That ambition pits the YogaWorks union directly against industry trends. It’s a conflict with broader significance: For many members of this mostly female workforce, yoga is foremost a spiritual practice, grounded in principles of non-violence and communal well-being. But as it gained popularity in the U.S., corporations took interest and sought to turn it into a product.
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Class warrior pose : YogaWorks teachers have organized the first union of yoga instructors in the country.
onesarahjones They’ll bend over backwards to help!