Climbing's Reckoning, Black Feminist Blueprints, and a Dead CEO: The Fight Against Structural Violence
All Praise to Black Feminists for Giving Us the Blueprint of Today's Labor Movement
In 2016, I worked at Planet Granite (now a Movement location) in so-called Portland, Oregon, where towards the end of my time working there long-term employees were denied substantial raises and offered only a 50-cent pay increase. One friend, a white medical student, told me, "I'd work here for free because I just want the free membership. It's not that big of a deal." This mindset dominated the climbing world at the time, and to some extent this ethos still runs amok in some spaces because climbing is just a microcosm of our larger society (one that normalizes exploitation under the guise of “paying dues”). It parallels the notion that one must "climb the ladder" through unpaid internships to earn their place—ironic because such unpaid positions are only viable for the privileged, typically white people with access to unearned intergenerational wealth, credit, loans, or other financial support.
While this culture persists, it’s also being challenged, thanks in no small part to the leadership of Black women through the decades who have been pivotal to the labor movement since its inception. Figures like Lucy Parsons, who was known by the Chicago police department as “more dangerous than a thousand rioters,” organized for worker solidarity in the 19th century. There's also the indomitable Claudia Jones, a Trinidadian journalist and activist who fought for labor and immigrant rights. As Carole Boyce Davies writes in her book Recovering the Radical Black Female Subject: Anti-Imperialism, Feminism, and Activism, “The fact that Claudia Jones is buried to the left of Marx in Highgate Cemetery, London, provides an apt metaphor...Her location in death continues to represent her ideological position while living: this black woman, articulating political positions that combine the theoretics of Marxism-Leninism and decolonization with a critique of class oppression, imperialist aggression, and gender subordination, is thus ‘left’ of Karl Marx.”
These Black women radicals have given us the blueprint for our labor movement today, ceaselessly reminding us that the fight for fair wages and safe working conditions is inseperable from racial and gender justice. Black feminists like Audre Lorde also orient us toward a radical perspective on resisting the oppressive conditions we’re told to accept without contest, teaching us in her indispensable book, A Burst of Light, that “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Yet, the radical roots of Lorde’s self-care have been co-opted by white women wellness influencers, transforming it into a commodified individual pursuit that disconnects it from Lorde’s emphasis on collective liberation.
This distortion undermines the very foundations of her message, reducing self-care to a marketable product rather than a tool of political resistance. Yet Lorde’s lessons endure, with Tricia Hersey picking up the torch through The Nap Ministry, which “examines the liberating power of naps” and encourages Black folks to rest as an act of resistance. This shift from hustle and grind culture to prioritizing our humanity and holistic wellbeing resonates particularly with Gen Z, a generation that’s been described by many headlines as “the most pro-union generation alive,” (NPR).
Thanks to Black feminists, as a collective, we’re more attuned to the fact that if we want collective liberation we have to prioritize our financial, physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being too. Labor rights, safe working conditions, and living wages are inextricable from the environmental justice movement and halting the climate crisis—not only because those in power can’t be held accountable if we’re all overworked, sick, and houseless, but because corporate greed is at the root of every injustice you can imagine.
Climbing Gyms, Union Busting, and America's Corrupt Healthcare System
The climbing community, like our society at large, is finally beginning to confront the false divide between "blue collar" and "white collar" work. All labor is labor and deserves a living wage. Plus, working at a climbing gym requires significant skill and expertise, despite what any executive schmuck wants you to believe. If I had been more informed about labor movements and the economy back then, I most likely would’ve tried to start a union (although my efforts probably would’ve been thwarted by people like my friend who really didn’t see the value in advocating for higher wages). Today, I’m slapping my knee and dancing around my living room at the news of how many unions are forming across the nation like wildfire and the climbing industry is no exception. Here's the current tally of climbing gym unions: Touchstone (five gyms), Vertical Endeavors (six gyms), Movement (six separate locations), and VITAL Brooklyn.
A seismic shift is underway, sparked by collective outrage against exploitative corporate practices—from climbing gyms to healthcare giants like UnitedHealth Care. The murder of UnitedHealthcare's CEO Brian Thompson has emerged as a powerful symbol of class consciousness and solidarity. Public reaction has exposed deep-rooted anger toward systemic inequality and corporate greed. This fury now drives a resurgence of union power, as workers in climbing gyms and beyond fight for dignity, fair wages, and better working conditions.
This is something we should all be celebrating, as organizing a union requires unmatched stamina, determination, patience, and courage. Most employers would fire workers or impose punitive measures if they discovered unionization efforts. One might expect that once a union is successfully formed and officially recognized by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), then it’s all downhill from there. However, the reality entails a lot more exhaustive work on the part of the workers because employers rarely cooperate. The next steps require what’s called “bargaining.” This is when workers and upper management come to “the table” in order to discuss a mutually agreed upon contract often surrounding topics like fair wages, healthcare, safer working conditions, and benefits.
But profit-obsessed, power-hoarding companies typically resist change through lengthy, petty, and manipulative tactics at this stage in the process. This is exactly what is happening with the nation’s first unionized climbing gym, a Movement location in Crystal City, Virginia. According to Climbing Magazine:
“Movement’s executives did not begin bargaining until fourteen months after the Crystal City union election, and they have repeatedly highlighted their first gym union’s lack of a contract in anti-union flyers posted at other Movement locations. In the meantime, five more Movement gyms have launched union campaigns in the past six months. While negotiations at Crystal City have approached a stalemate, both sides have confirmed they are still bargaining. Since August 2023, the NLRB has been investigating Movement over five charges of Unfair Labor Practices.”
Movement has deployed every tactic from the anti-union playbook to prevent their gyms from unionizing and to block Movement Crystal City from negotiating a contract. In an underhanded move, the gym gave raises to all Movement employees who passed a new yearly review, except those at Crystal City who were unionizing. Management falsely claimed it would be illegal to give raises to unionized employees—a deceptive attempt to discourage employees at other gym locations from unionizing.
The Climbing Magazine article linked above reveals how Movement management continues its aggressive anti-union campaign by posting flyers filled with misinformation and lies in break rooms and at the front desk. They falsely portray Crystal City's union members as "disorganized" while concealing how they've made negotiations impossibly difficult (in other words, a living hell) for the Crystal City staff. Before Movement’s location in Gowanus successfully became a union Stephanie Ko Pound, Movement’s VP of Operations, recorded a manipulative video of herself and posted it to Callowhill’s internal scheduling app on December 4. She twisted the setbacks that Crystal City was facing as if it was the union’s fault they didn’t have a fair contract yet, when in reality Movement's upper management was threatening to decrease wages from $16 to $13 per hour and eliminate free memberships. However, Movement employees are too smart for their sleazy schemes and can see right through their manipulation. Union efforts across six of Movement’s locations are still going strong.
An anomaly in all of this is VITAL Manhattan climbing gym, whose cofounder shifted from urging workers to vote against the union to accepting their unanimous 13-0 victory (not to give this coward any credit). VITAL Manhattan signed its first labor contract on February 16, 2024, setting a powerful precedent for other climbing gyms seeking to unionize. The contract secured wage increases, eliminated at-will employment, locked in health coverage rates, provided twelve hours of accrued paid time off, and added other benefits.
Class Consciousness Is Raising the Bar
66% of Americans say they approve of unions. According to the Wall Street Journal, 2023 was "the year of the strike." Teachers, nurses, writers, pilots, snow patrollers, REI workers, Starbucks baristas, and even Yellowstone National Park employees are unionizing. For my astrology girlies out there: Pluto in Aquarius is bringing class consciousness and solidarity to the fore. As a collective we’re sick of living paycheck to paycheck, the egregious rent prices, and avoiding the hospital unless it’s an emergency because we’re without adequate healthcare.
You know something is shifting when we're all celebrating and ogling, Luigi Mangione, the ripped assassin via hilarious memes and Tik Toks, aka "The Adjuster," who shot Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Care, on December 4, 2024, on a crisp New York morning. A New Yorker headline reads, "A Man Was Murdered in Cold Blood and You're Laughing?" and we're all like... yeah, that's exactly what we're doing. UnitedHealthcare is part of UnitedHealth Group, a health-insurance conglomerate valued at five hundred and sixty billion dollars, and between salary and other benefits, Thompson took home more than $10 million in compensation last year. “UnitedHealthcare has the highest claim-denial rate of any private insurance company: at thirty-two per cent, it is double the industry average,” reports The New Yorker. Guess this CEO skipped Mary Oliver: Benefitting off people’s suffering is how you chose to spend your one wild and precious life?
When people are denied life-saving surgeries and medication, and robbed of living wages to pay for these essential resources, it is a form of structural violence. Thompson actively participated in and benefited from a system that killed thousands of people because they were denied health care. Similarly, when I think about Movement upper management recording videos and creating marketing materials aimed at suppressing unionization efforts (that would greatly increase their employees’ quality of life and create exponentially healthier and safer working conditions), I can’t help but see the same disregard for human wellbeing as Thompson and UnitedHealthcare.
Private Equity’s Pipeline of Exploitation and Structural Violence
Since Movement is owned by private equity, they aren't required to report their earnings publicly. However, we don't need to see those numbers to know they're generating millions and funneling that money to stakeholders and executives—all through worker exploitation. Like UnitedHealthcare, Movement consistently demonstrates that the bottom line is all they care about.
Private equity can be complex, so as someone without financial expertise, I researched thoroughly to understand it (you can read the full breakdown here). In an interview for Vox, Emily Steward breaks down private equity firms like Tengram, which houses El Cap. These firms "buy companies that are struggling or have growth potential and then try to repackage them, speed up their growth, and—theoretically—make them work better. Then, they sell them to another firm, take them public, or find some other way to offload them," reports Steward. These business decisions rarely, if ever, benefit the customers and employees because, according to Steward, private equity's number one priority is to make money fast. The long-term health of the companies isn't the central focus. And it’s clear that the long-term health of Movement’s employees isn’t the focus either.
At their core, these issues share the same root: structural violence. Whether it’s a corporation withholding life-saving care or refusing to improve working conditions, the outcome is a blatant disregard for human well-being. The outrage sparked by Thompson’s death mirrors the fury that drives workers to unionize. Both are reactions to the same systemic inequality—an economy where exploitation is the default and solidarity is the only antidote.
Touchstone Gym’s Blatant Racism and Anti-Union Propaganda
Touchstone climbing gyms in California have had their own share of grueling work when it comes to battling management’s attempts to stave off negotiating a contract with union leadership. Yet the fight for fair treatment at Touchstone isn’t new. In 2019, Touchstone severed ties with Emily Taylor, a Black, queer climbing coach, who leads Brown Girls Climbing, a program devoted to cultivating physical and emotional resilience among young Black girls and girls of color. The company falsely accused Taylor of being “unprofessional,” but everyone in the community knew that this was retaliation for her vocal stance against racism in climbing spaces. There’s no denying the racism in Touchstone’s language and behavior.
In her essay, “Professionalism as a Racist Construct,” Leah Goodridge, attorney and housing justice advocate, writes:
“While professionalism seemingly applies to everyone, it is used to widely police and regulate people of color in various ways including hair, tone, and food scents.[5] Thus, it is not merely that there is a double standard in how professionalism applies; it is that the standard itself is based on a set of beliefs grounded in racial subordination and white supremacy.”
In “Emily Taylor Stands Up to the Rock,” by Leslie Bowling-Dyer and Jaime Jenett, two parents who’s children have greatly benefitted from Emily’s coaching, explain that parents of Brown Girls Climbing students were outraged, particularly at the company’s refusal to provide transparent communication or explore alternatives like mediation. Many noted the broader implications of Touchstone’s actions, with one parent saying, “It says how little they really think of us.”
Taylor’s contributions to the climbing community are astounding. “Taylor is a Black, Queer, 30-year veteran in the predominately white outdoor adventure industry and is unwilling to accommodate racism, sexism, ableism and homophobia,” wrote Bowling-Dyer and Jenett. As a coach, she creates a uniquely inclusive environment that emphasizes “leadership, positive racial identity, and environmental stewardship.” Her coaching is rooted in a fundamental understanding of the systemic barriers that Black, Indigenous, and people of color face, and she dedicates her work to creating access to the outdoors for folks who have been marginalized by white supremacy and ongoing colonization. Her abrupt and unjust banning from Touchstone facilities underscored the company’s lack of commitment to equity, even as it claimed to support “diversity.”
The fallout from Emily’s ban and the discontinuation of Brown Girls Climbing programs drew widespread outrage, including from a parent who publicly shared a post on Facebook,
“My family will no longer be supporting Touchstone Gyms... They have excluded my daughter, her coach Emily Taylor, and Emily’s programs for girls of color based on the color of their skin. My daughter is one of these brown girls. Touchstone's website ironically says, 'Climbing is for everyone.' Below is the letter they sent to us parents—but forgot to send to Coach Emily—acknowledging that their ban was racially motivated. Note that it’s an apology letter, but not a welcome letter."
The letter, addressed to “Emily, her clients and her clients’ families, to our Black community, and our community at large,” was a non-apology that many saw as performative. Shared on social media, it sparked additional criticism. A Reddit user noted, “To me it reads as a performative apology to try to get people off their backs. The lack of a direct apology to Taylor or actionable steps the gym is taking to rectify the situation or changes to make moving forward makes this apology feel pretty hollow.”
Taylor’s banning highlights a pattern of abusive power dynamics within Touchstone. As another parent pointed out, “Touchstone has a relative monopoly on indoor climbing gyms in the area,” making their actions even more harmful to the community they claim to serve. While the letter acknowledged racial bias, it offered no real solutions, no invitation for Taylor or her students to return, and no commitment to systemic change.
The performative apology encapsulates Touchstone’s broader approach to accountability in which they prioritize public relations over real, meaningful action. This same ethos has extended to their treatment of unionized employees.
On November 27, 2024, Touchstone Workers United shared on Instagram, “Getting contract requests answered in a reasonable way? - like climbing on a high gravity day when the climb shouldn't FEEL this hard. Communicating and sticking together to have each other's backs? The best aid we could ask for. Shoutout to the other unionized climbing gyms giving us beta on navigating the process. We're stronger together!”
The same day they posted this message on Instagram was the same day union committee leaders, Jess Kim and Jordan Mueck, sent out a breaking press release stating that unionized employees were told by Touchstone to “take pay cuts or lose their health insurance premium coverage.” Kim and Mueck explained that at a recent bargaining session on November 20, Daniel Adlong, a partner at the anti-union law firm Ogletree Deakins, threatened employees with wage cuts or loss of their health insurance premium coverage. He also suggested removing some members from the bargaining unit, despite their participation in the union election “with no contest from him” earlier this year. Employee proposals for increased health and safety measures, sexual harassment regulation, and active shooter protocols were met with outright rejection—a flat “no” was Touchstone’s response.
Touchstone's CEO Mark Melvin had initially promised employees not to engage in union-busting tactics, claiming he “…will not be a union-busting CEO” and remains “…committed to keeping Touchstone a place where employees feel valued and heard.” The hypocrisy is louder than a shirtless bro screaming "PSAT" through the crux of his climb. Despite Melvin's heartfelt declarations, management ignored bargaining requests for months. Finally, on September 12, 2024, a minimal delegation—Adlong, Touchstone Director of HR, Lisette de la Rosa, and a local location manager—met with employees.
Despite management’s delay tactics, refusal to bargain in December, and their plans to raise member dues in January without explanation, solidarity campaigns among members and staff are ongoing and Workers United remains steadfast. Public support is critical in holding the company accountable for these behaviors. A website has been launched where members where members and supporters can send pre-written emails directly to Touchstone management, urging them to meet workers’ demands. These emails are a quick, effective, and accessible way that union supporters far and wide can help hold the company accountable for its egregious behavior.
At Terra Incognita Media, we also encourage supporters to utilize social media by amplifying what’s going on, sharing Touchstone United Workers’ posts on Instagram, and commenting on Touchstone Gyms social media posts demanding that they bargain in good faith, and maintain workers’ healthcare premium coverage without cutting wages.
Mueck, who was recently hospitalized for surgery recorded a video from their hospital bed addressing Touchstone's threat to cut employee pay in exchange for maintaining current health insurance premium coverage. "This is obviously bad because some of us need to go to the hospital and have good health insurance,” Mueck says dressed in a full hospital gown and bouffant cap. “Please let Touchstone know: no to wage cuts, and yes to healthcare.”
A Reckoning That Must be Anchored in Black Feminism
By unionizing, climbing gym employees are protesting this capitalist culture of disposability that echoes the healthcare system’s treatment of patients. Just as the public’s reaction to Thompson’s death reveals a growing intolerance for corporate greed, the wave of union wins signals a powerful shift toward valuing humanity over profits. Dignity, fairness, safety, and healthcare shouldn’t be luxuries, they’re human rights. The courage and stamina of leaders like Emily Taylor and unionized employees like Mueck, Kim, and Movement Gym union organizers, who face relentless opposition from employers and anti-union firms, deserve our admiration and support. As Touchstone workers put it, “We’re stronger together.” Their fight is our fight, reminding us that collective action is the most powerful tool against structural violence.
To understand today's intersections of race, gender, and labor exploitation, we must study the labor movement's Black feminist roots. Remember that fighting for fair treatment of some means fighting for fair treatment of all—being pro-union means supporting reparations for Black people, a free Palestine, and Land Back for all oppressed people. Revolutionaries like Lucy Parsons and Claudia Jones showed workers how to resist systemic oppression by connecting fair wages and safe conditions with racial and gender justice. Their blueprint remains vital as we challenge the hypocrisy and racism embedded in industries like climbing.
Call To Action
Let’s put pressure on Touchstone upper management by sending emails holding them accountable for their anti-union behavior, and help ensure that Touchstone United Workers’ efforts inspire change far beyond the walls of the climbing gym.
You can also support Emily Taylor’s work by following Taylor on Instagram, learning more about their story here, checking out Brown Girls Climbing ongoing programming by visiting their website, as well as follow Brown Girls Climbing on Instagram and support the scholarship fund. There was even a documentary made about Emily’s journey, which you can learn more about here.
