The New York Times - 12.09.2019

A32 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NEW YORKTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Natasa Babic often teaches
three yoga classes on Thursdays
at three different locations for
three different employers. Her day
starts at 6 a.m. and ends after 9
p.m. In between, she’s teaching,
going back and forth on the sub-
way, preparing classes and re-
searching techniques.
For her work, Ms. Babic, 37,
earns $175. She doesn’t get health
insurance, doesn’t get overtime
and her teaching slots aren’t guar-
anteed.
So when teachers at Yoga-
Works, where she teaches six
classes a week, began talking
about forming a union, Ms. Babic
was interested.
As the multibillion-dollar yoga
industry continues to expand, in-
structors guiding students toward
serenity from the front of the stu-
dios are beginning to speak out —
demanding more pay, benefits and
job security. Some are also criticiz-
ing what they see as too much em-
phasis on physical fitness over
spiritualism.
On Monday, union officials and
teachers at the New York locations
of YogaWorks, a popular nation-
wide chain controlled by a private
equity firm, asked the company to
recognize a union that would ap-
pear to be the first in the United
States to include yoga instructors.
In response, a YogaWorks offi-
cial sent an email addressed to the
New York teachers and trainers,
painting the union as an untrust-
worthy group looking to collect
dues from workers.
The email, from Heather Eary, a
regional vice president for Yoga-
Works, ended in all capital letters:
“DON’T SIGN A CARD.” The line
was referring to cards being circu-
lated by teachers and by the union,
the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Work-
ers, saying the signatory would
want the group to represent them.
“YogaWorks does not believe
that employees joining — and pay-
ing dues to — a union is in the best
interest of YogaWorks, our em-
ployees or our students,” the mes-
sage said. “We are surprised that
the Machinists union would ask us
to help them possibly take away
your right to decide whether you
want join them.”
“Our offer to work in collabora-
tion with the company still
stands,” said David DiMaria, an
organizer with the union. “Hope-
fully they see past their original re-
action.”
Carla Gatza, the head of human
resources for YogaWorks, said in
an email that management re-
spects the right of teachers and
trainers to “engage in, or refrain
from, union organizing” but “be-
lieves that our company, our em-
ployees, and our students are best
served when YogaWorks and its
employees work together without
the interference of a third party
union.”
Yoga has traditionally sought to
unite the mind, body and spirit in
an effort to achieve a feeling of se-
renity and a connection to oneself
and the world. But over the past
decade or so, many teachers say,
studios have become increasingly
commercialized.
YogaWorks, which began as a
single studio in Southern Califor-
nia in the 1980s and is now one of
the largest yoga chains in the
country with around 60 locations,
is seen by some teachers as em-
blematic of that shift.
In certain ways teaching yoga
may seem like a dream job — a

way to earn money while staying

healthy and helping others. But

yoga teachers say that their work

can be filled with the type of stress

that the practice is meant to allevi-

ate.

Many, experts say, are partici-

pants in the so-called gig economy,

where companies employ nonper-

manent workers and don’t have to

contribute to unemployment in-

surance or workers’ compensa-

tion, or heed minimum-wage and

overtime laws.

Most YogaWorks teachers are

something of a hybrid, classified

as employees but given only part-

time work with little or no job secu-

rity, organizers said. And many of

those teachers also do “gig work”

as independent contractors for

other employers. The effect, multi-

ple instructors said, can be ex-

hausting, with teachers constantly

scrambling to make ends meet,

competing for work and spending

unpaid hours preparing for ses-

sions.

Still, several teachers said, they

stick with their classes because

they enjoy their jobs and they be-

lieve in the ability of yoga to im-

prove lives.

“I love when people have some

kind of realization, or feel a part of

their body they weren’t able to feel

before, when something just

clicks,” Markella Los, a Yoga-

Works instructor and an early un-

ion organizer, said.

The aim of forming a union, sev-

eral teachers said, is to negotiate

over making pay rates transpar-

ent, creating standards for raises,

obtaining benefits and job securi-

ty, and asking that teachers have a

voice in ensuring that classes pre-

serve values intrinsic to yoga.

“They often say the yoga teach-

ers are the center of this business,”

Tamar Samir, who has taken part

in the unionization effort, said of

the company’s leaders. “But then

somehow the way that teachers

are supported in terms of pay and

benefits and job security doesn’t

match that.”

The union that the teachers are

trying to form with the Machinists

would include about 100 instruc-

tors said to work regularly at the

company’s four New York loca-

tions.

Teachers and union officials

said they want the organizing in

New York to serve as a model for

efforts at studios throughout the

country, including at YogaWorks’s

other locations in Boston, San

Francisco, Washington, D.C., and

elsewhere.

An instructor at CorePower, the

country’s largest yoga studio

chain with 200 locations in more

than 20 states, previously advo-

cated for starting a union there

and earlier this year introduced

some YogaWorks teachers to Ma-

chinists union officials.

The unionization effort comes

as yoga has been growing increas-

ingly popular.. A study by the

Yoga Journal and the Yoga Alli-

ance said that the number of yoga

practitioners in the country has

risen to 36 million in 2016, from

20.4 million in 2012, and spending

— on clothes, equipment, classes

— has also increased, to $16 billion

from $10 billion over the same pe-

riod.

The study also said there were

two teacher trainees for every ex-

isting teacher.

Teachers at YogaWorks said

that has given employers lever-

age and often put workers in the

position of taking on whatever

classes they can get or working

for low wages or no pay at all to

get a foot in the door at a studio.

Those issues are not restricted

to any one studio. CorePower has

faced federal labor lawsuits. More

than 1,500 teachers have said in a

recent suit that the company pays

them less than minimum wage be-

cause of the amount of off-the-

clock work they are required to do.

CorePower has said it believes

that lawsuit is “without merit.”

Pay within YogaWorks can vary

from about $35 to $100 or more to

teach classes of 45 to 90 minutes,

teachers said, with no apparent

correlation between pay and class

duration. It is not clear how to

qualify for a raise or ask for one,

they said, adding that it is also un-

clear how classes are allocated.

“Some people get raises and

some people don’t, some people

get new classes on the schedule

and some people don’t,” said Jess

Blake, who has been teaching at

YogaWorks for more than eight

years. “There’s no transparency

so we’re just left to guess at what

the process is.”

Some teachers also said they

would like more of a say in how

classes are structured to ensure

an emphasis on mindfulness or

what one teacher, Nora Heilmann,

called its “core values.”

Lucie Kim, a student leaving Yo-

gaWorks’s Soho location on Mon-

day, said she thought a union

would give the teachers a greater

voice and in turn give a greater

voice to students.

“They are more interested in us

than the studio or the corporation

behind it,” Ms. Kim said.

Jay Smirnov, who said he was a

regular at the YogaWorks location

on the Upper East Side, said Tues-

day that if he began to feel the

company was exploiting its in-

structors, he would stop going.

He said he knew instructors

who had quit their previous jobs

“only to find out when you become

a yoga instructor you’re barely

making 20 dollars an hour, and

you’re really scavenging to do it.”

“It hasn’t turned into a career,

it’s more turned into a side gig,”

Mr. Smirnov said, “because you

can’t put food on the table.”

Yoga Instructors Are Warned ‘DON’T’ on Union

A YogaWorks studio in Manhattan. The popular chain is controlled by a private equity firm.

ANNA WATTS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

By COLIN MOYNIHAN

At issue are pay, job

security and keeping

a spiritual focus.

Alex Traub contributed reporting.

Steve Vidal had worked at

Chipotle Mexican Grill in Brook-

lyn for two years, moving from

burrito folder to service manager,

when he finally decided to quit last

summer.

He said he grew frustrated at

last-minute changes to his sched-

ule, of managers retaliating

against employees who com-

plained by cutting their hours and

of a murky sick-leave policy that

left him wondering how to get his

paid time off.

Mr. Vidal was one of more than

30 current or former Chipotle em-

ployees in the area who com-

plained about working conditions

at the restaurant to the city and to

32BJ SEIU, a local union trying to

organize fast-food workers.

On Tuesday, after investigating

the complaints, New York an-

nounced that it was suing the com-

pany for violating the city’s Fair

Workweek Law.

The city is seeking at least $1

million in restitution for workers

and penalties.

In its complaint, New York ac-

cused Chipotle of abusing work-

ers at five of its locations in Brook-

lyn, including the one where Mr.

Vidal most recently worked.

One current employee noted

the irony of a company that con-

stantly heralded its “Food with In-

tegrity” mantra not taking the

same approach with its work

force.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they

treat the animals better than they

treat us,” said Jeremy Espinal, 20,

an employee at a Chipotle in

Greenwich Village.

The city said the lawsuit, filed

with the Office of Administrative

Trials and Hearings, was the first

one brought against a publicly

held corporate fast-food chain un-

der the law, which was meant to

give hourly workers more stable

schedules and paychecks.

The Workweek law, which took

effect in November 2017, requires

that fast-food companies notify

workers of their weekly schedules

at least two weeks in advance.

Workers have to agree in writ-

ing to last-minute schedule

changes and employers must pay

workers a premium for making

these changes. Companies are

also required to give workers the

opportunity for additional hours

instead of hiring more part-

timers.

The law also requires compa-

nies to get consent and pay extra

when they schedule employees

for so-called clopenings, which re-

quire a worker to close a store

then return early the next day to

open it.

The city is also continuing to in-

vestigate complaints at 11 addi-

tional Chipotles in Manhattan, ac-

cording to the commissioner for

consumer and worker protection,

Lorelei Salas.

“This is a very large corpora-

tion that should have known bet-

ter — that does know better,” Ms.

Salas said, “because this investi-

gation has been going on since

early 2018, and still, as of today,

Chipotle has not fixed their prac-

tices.”

In a statement, Chipotle said it

was working to address the city’s

concerns.

“Chipotle has been working co-

operatively with the city to ensure

we have systems and processes in

place to comply with the law, so we

believe the filing of charges was

unnecessary,” said Laurie

Schalow, Chipotle’s chief reputa-

tion officer.

Ms. Schalow added that Chipo-

tle’s employees knew the com-

pany was committed to creating a

“safe and engaging work envi-

ronment” that was in compliance

with all relevant laws and regula-

tions. She said Chipotle encour-

aged its workers to contact the

company immediately if they had

concerns.

But Ms. Salas said Chipotle,

which owns and operates more

than 80 locations in New York City,

only began to cooperate when the

city threatened a lawsuit. She

noted that her department was

still receiving complaints.

Mr. Espinal, a college student

who has worked part time at

Chipotle for more than a year, said

he had not seen any changes in

how workers were treated at the

restaurant in that time.

Even now, he said, managers

still forced workers to agree to

schedule changes.

Just last week, Mr. Espinal said,

he had worked a “clopening” that

left him exhausted.

“It affects more than just your

job,” he said. “It affects what’s go-

ing on around you and your life.”

Mr. Vidal, 25, said that as a man-

ager he was often asked by his

bosses to send employees home

early from a shift, or to cut their

hours, saving the company

money. He was then asked to pres-

sure the employees to sign paper-

work suggesting they had re-

quested the change. In the law-

suit, the city said the practice was

common.

When Mr. Vidal complained

about what he was asked to do, he

said, his supervisor cut his hours

and moved him to less desirable

shifts.

“The schedule was kind of used

as a weapon,” Mr. Vidal said.

By the time he left, Mr. Vidal

said, he had grown frustrated that

a company that he was initially at-

tracted to because of its stated val-

ues had failed to live up to its mis-

sion.

“You have this company that’s

all about integrity, but yet they’re

not even holding themselves ac-

countable,” Mr. Vidal said.

Even before the lawsuit, Chipo-

tle had attracted attention for

work force issues. Last year, the

turnover rate among the chain’s

hourly workers was nearly 145

percent, down from a huge 158

percent the year before.

The news of the lawsuit dealt a

slight blow to the company’s stock

price, which had finally recovered

after a series of food-safety issues

in 2015 and 2016. By the end of

Tuesday, the stock was down 6.16

percent.

So far, the city has opened 167

investigations under the Work-

week Law, a spokeswoman for the

Department of Consumer and

Worker Protection said. There are

six cases currently open with the

Office of Administrative Trials

and Hearings and the city previ-

ously settled six others.

Workers Cite Abuses

At Chipotle, and City Sues

By MICHAEL GOLD

Employees complain

of scheduling

practices that violate

a 2017 city law.

Near the end of the school day
on Tuesday afternoon, a 10-year-
old boy in Brooklyn stood along a
bustling road waiting for a bus,
most likely trying to get home.
But the police said the boy
never made it onto the bus after he
was hit by a sport utility vehicle
driven by a man who had suffered
a “medical episode,” causing him
to lose control of the vehicle at an
intersection in Midwood. The boy,
whom the police identified as
Enzo Farachio of Brooklyn, later
died at a nearby hospital.
At around 2:43 p.m., the police
said a man in his 50s was driving
north on Ocean Avenue, near Ave-
nue L, in his gray Lexus S.U.V.
when he veered off the road and
onto the sidewalk where Enzo was
standing, the police said.
The driver, who was riding with
his 9-year-old daughter, went on
to hit a scaffolding on Ocean Ave-
nue, the police said. The girl was
taken to a nearby hospital for
evaluation.
Police officers who responded
to the crash found Enzo with se-
vere injuries to his neck and back.
He was transported to New York
Community Hospital, but could
not be saved, officials said.
No arrests have been made as
the department’s Collision Inves-
tigation Squad continued its in-

vestigation, the police said.

In a video posted on Facebook,

firefighters are seen surrounding

the S.U.V., which was wedged un-

der the scaffolding, as onlookers

recorded videos and took photos

with their cellphones.

Some witnesses said the scene

quickly turned into one of confu-

sion and anguish.

“I heard a very bad noise, very,

very bad,” said Naide Afsin. “I'm

still shaking.”

Mohammed Hamoud, a con-

struction worker who was work-

ing in the area, came down from a

neighboring building to inspect

the scene after hearing a “big

boom.” He caught a glimpse of the

boy when he got closer, he said.

“He’s on the floor and he has a

lot of blood on his face,” Mr.

Hamoud said.

Elk Krausz, who owns the com-

pany that put up the scaffolding,

appeared dismayed at the scene.

“We’re going to replace it,” Mr.

Krausz said of the broken scaffold-

ing. But, “you can’t replace a

child.”

Tuesday’s accident was remi-

niscent of a devastating crash in

Brooklyn in March 2018 that

gained national attention. In that

crash, a car slammed into a 20-

month-old boy and a 5-year-old

girl at an intersection in the Park

Slope neighborhood, also hitting

one of the children’s pregnant

mothers. Both children were

killed.

Authorities said Dorothy

Bruns, who was prone to seizures

and suffered from multiple sclero-

sis, ran a red light at Ninth Street

and Fifth Avenue, hitting Abigail

Blumenstein, 5; Joshua Lew, 1;

and both of their mothers. Offi-

cials said Ms. Bruns had been be-

hind the wheel even though her

doctor had warned her not to

drive.

Abigail’s mother, Ruthie Ann

Miles, an award-winning theater

actress, lost her unborn child as a

result of her injuries. Joshua’s

mother, Lauren Lew, eventually

recovered from her injuries.

Months after the police charged

Ms. Bruns with manslaughter she

was found dead in her Staten Is-

land home. The police suspected

she had died by suicide.

Brooklyn Boy Is Killed

By S.U.V. on Sidewalk

By SEAN PICCOLI

and EDGAR SANDOVAL

Rebecca Liebson contributed
reporting.

Crews working on scaffolding that collapsed when a car crashed in the Midwood section of Brooklyn and killed a 10-year-old boy.

KEVIN HAGEN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A ‘medical episode’

caused a driver to lose

control, officials said.