Read about GFIU and our cause in this
Men's Health Magazine article:
Our Vision
For every fitness instructor to have access to basic and necessary employment benefits: healthcare, paid time off, sick leave, vacation, contract negotiation, retirement funds, maternity leave, a fair and equitable workplace, employer checks & balances, environmental health & safety, basic minimum wage, and fair hiring practices. To do so, we believe that all instructors should be licensed as the professional healers they are-- and be held accountable for keeping their students safe.
In the process of advocating for the rights of fitness instructors, we will further standardize, protect, and regulate the fitness industry as a whole. Legislation that meets the unique needs of our industry will ensure it's efficacy, legitimize the small business owners within it, and create systems of transparency, reporting, and sustainable development.
The first step on this path is legitimizing our jobs by licensing fitness instructors. We're currently working with the SHARP survey group of the Washington State Department of Licensing & Industries to create a survey about GFIs that will capture REAL DATA about the nature of student, instructor, and employment safety.
In the process of advocating for the rights of fitness instructors, we will further standardize, protect, and regulate the fitness industry as a whole. Legislation that meets the unique needs of our industry will ensure it's efficacy, legitimize the small business owners within it, and create systems of transparency, reporting, and sustainable development.
The first step on this path is legitimizing our jobs by licensing fitness instructors. We're currently working with the SHARP survey group of the Washington State Department of Licensing & Industries to create a survey about GFIs that will capture REAL DATA about the nature of student, instructor, and employment safety.
Who are GFIs?
Group Fitness Instructors are anyone who leads public and private movement sessions for 2+ "students" or "clients." Our job is to incite, encourage, and safely maneuver people through movements in whatever form, with the aim of creating a healthier physical and mental state. Whether we teach adults or children; cycling or yoga; indoors or outdoors; classes of 50 people or 2, our job is to get people to move-- and to enjoy it!
Unfortunately, our under-regulated industry and the social emphasis on fitness has allowed our people to become undervalued. It's time to recognize our power, to protect each other, and to stand up for our rights! We are more than "just group fitness instructors." We change lives. We power an industry with our own bodies. We literally, and figuratively, touch our others. And, as one GFI said, in this industry "we spend more hours off the clock than on."
We often teach in a variety of spaces, with a variety of contractual types, sometimes full-time and always because we're passionate about our students and movement. Most of us pay extreme amounts of money to "certify" and "re-certify" in our craft, and often we pay our own employers for the right to teach.
We aren't traditional employees. We aren't gig workers. We're Group Fitness Instructors. We deserve to be organized, recognized, and benefited. We deserve to work in an industry that is equitable and accountable. Becoming part of GFI United is a step toward becoming a licensed professional who receives adequate pay, proper and affordable certification, and employment benefits. It might not happen tomorrow; it might not happen next year; but it WILL happen, and we need your support to rally our leaders and galvanize our fellow GFIs.
Unfortunately, our under-regulated industry and the social emphasis on fitness has allowed our people to become undervalued. It's time to recognize our power, to protect each other, and to stand up for our rights! We are more than "just group fitness instructors." We change lives. We power an industry with our own bodies. We literally, and figuratively, touch our others. And, as one GFI said, in this industry "we spend more hours off the clock than on."
We often teach in a variety of spaces, with a variety of contractual types, sometimes full-time and always because we're passionate about our students and movement. Most of us pay extreme amounts of money to "certify" and "re-certify" in our craft, and often we pay our own employers for the right to teach.
We aren't traditional employees. We aren't gig workers. We're Group Fitness Instructors. We deserve to be organized, recognized, and benefited. We deserve to work in an industry that is equitable and accountable. Becoming part of GFI United is a step toward becoming a licensed professional who receives adequate pay, proper and affordable certification, and employment benefits. It might not happen tomorrow; it might not happen next year; but it WILL happen, and we need your support to rally our leaders and galvanize our fellow GFIs.
Machinists Union 751There is no more appropriate Union for Group Fitness Instructors than the Machinists. After all, we're using our bodies as the machine to power the fitness industry! IAM 751 has shown incredible vision, dedication, and courage in uniting with Group Fitness Instructors. Learn more about the Machinists legacy by visiting their site.
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Unionizing
Traditionally, Unions represent employees from a single employer in a certain district. For example, aerospace engineers at Boeing in Redmond, WA; yoga instructors at Yoga Works in New York. Then, non-W2 workers began to unionize: independent lobster fisherman in Maine (they created a co-op, too); self-employed truck drivers in Washington; and "gig" working Uber drivers across the country. Still, GFIs present one of the most complex legal situations for organization yet.
Employment
Since it's highly unlikely that any one gym can employ a fitness instructor full-time, or even give an instructor enough classes to make their certificate worthwhile, most instructors teach in a variety of locations. They may be 1099 in one place, W2 in another, and even accept cash payments as a sole proprietor in other locations. This variety of employment means we don't qualify for typical employment benefits. And we're trying to negotiate, manage, and maintain different, confusing contracts at every location where we teach. That's one reason we're advocating for standard contracts.
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Certification
We like to say that the group fitness industry is carnivorous: our employers require us to have "certificates" to teach classes. And, often, those are the same employers who issue the certificates. Then, they're expected to teach for free or lower wages until "they get their hours in." This means instructors are paying for their own jobs, and often paying their own employers. Instructors can pay thousands of dollars for their certificate to teach, but there's no true oversight on the quality, validity, or effectiveness of these certificates. That is why we're advocating for a single group fitness certificate.
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Benefits
School teachers don't get paid separate rates for their planning time. Truck drivers don't get paid separate rates for the time the spend driving versus waiting in the loading dock. Group fitness instructors should be paid adequately for the hours associated with our unique jobs: transit, planning, teaching, greeting. We should receive pay that matches the current cost of living and that is appropriate to our skills set. We shouldn't have to pay out-of-pocket for our certificates, our music, or licenses, and other associated costs. That's why we're advocating for a basic benefits and protections.
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The realityBeing a professional or semi-professional group fitness instructor is not a hobby. Our industry rakes in trillions of dolalrs. And GFIs depend on this income. Here are some of the stats we've collected.
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1/3 to 1/2unpaid portion of their total working time
6 out of 10out of 10 Group Fitness Instructors have
been 100% employed as a GFI 46%of instructors work in venues with
in-adequate health & safety standards |
Lead GFI Galvanizer
Emily Stewart
Like many Group Fitness Instructors, Emily never planned on making "fit-tainment" her job. She began teaching yoga in England before she was even certified. After 40 people showed up to her first class, and she earned <100 BPS, collected from a jar outside the room, she got the fitness bug. Now she's got 6+ official certificates. She's led retreats, has taught almost every kind of shape, size, age, and fitness level you can imagine, in a myriad of formats, and all kinds of spaces. After teaching in Europe for years, she's increasingly frustrated by how few protections and allowances "her people" are given. She contacted the AFL-CIO in January 2020. She hasn't looked back. Find her website here: http://www.ahumandoing.org/
Can't find what you're looking for? Here's all the links, in one place:
Seattle, King County Washington Call Emily: (206) 488-5563
