There are over 60,000 fitness professionals in the UK. It’s a growing and highly profitable sector. Yet this is not reflected in job security or solid guaranteed pay for fitpros. For too many, gym work is precarious, as well as exhausting, unsociable and even dangerous.

One of the biggest projected growth sectors for the fitness industry is digital services, so we may see a rise in app-based business models utilised by ride hire and courier-type companies. In these sectors, workers have responded effectively to unsatisfactory pay and conditions by forming a union to enforce their rights and bargain collectively with firms for improvements.

We’ve seen a big rise in workers taking union action (and winning) over the past year in response to the rocketing cost of living and rising profits. But it doesn’t have to be just in the traditional industries. Closest to home we have the example of the Yoga Teachers Union which includes many freelancers, getting organised to tackle exploitation, discrimination and harassment.

Do you think we need a union for the fitness sector? Let us know via the comments or feel free to use the contact form. You won’t be surprised to hear I think it’s long overdue…

Whatever sector you work in, you have more power to make positive change at work as a member of a union. You can learn more about joining a union via Organise Now!, and also my course Peace for PTs which takes a reflective look at the causes of chronic stress in fitness work – mental, emotional and economic – and how we can avoid them.