Private equity investors jumped on the trend, among them Tengram Capital Partners, a Connecticut firm that owns a holding company called El Cap. El Cap acquired Movement, then a small Colorado chain, in 2019, consolidated two other chains under the Movement name, and starting buying up and opening more gyms across the country. It also brought Honnold on as a board member.<\/p>\n
For diehards like Lavin, however, climbing gyms are far more than just successful businesses or friendly places to work out. They describe them as central to their lives and their emotional and physical well-being.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy gym is an incredible space to be able to be in. I found the strongest community that I\u2019ve ever been a part of when I started working at the Cliffs,\u201d she said. \u201cI was making my first friends when I was coming to Queer Night at the gym, which we still have, which I know provides a space for people to find themselves in the same way that I found myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClimbing is the way that I keep my head on my shoulders,\u201d said Lavin, who is 28.<\/p>\n
Ira Lam, a 27-year-old front desk staffer at Callowhill, said her personal investment in the sport has been an \u201cawesome\u201d experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love climbing. It\u2019s been my main hobby and my main sport for a decade at this point in my life,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are a lot of things in that job that lead to a sense of personal accomplishment \u2014 like, I learned to \u2018lead climb\u2019 recently, and I recently became certified to administer our lead test. I\u2019ve set this goal, I\u2019ve made it, and now I am good enough at it that I can decide if other people are doing it safely or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scrambling to make rent<\/p>\n
With climbing, however, making a career in the thing you love can be difficult. Lam and Lavin said they work at the gym in large part because employees get free membership, which would otherwise cost $109 a month, plus a $49 initiation fee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI simply cannot afford to be in a space like that if I\u2019m not working there,\u201d Lavin said.<\/p>\n
Yet working at Movement Callowhill hardly makes financial sense either, they said. Pay rates are low, and most staff are part-timers who are capped at 30 hours per week, limiting their earnings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lam said she used to work at a Movement gym in New York and had worked her way up to earning $21.75 per hour; when she transferred to Philadelphia she was told the only position available was a $13.50-per-hour front desk job. Last summer she got a 1% pay increase, to $13.64, a little more than half of what\u2019s considered a living wage<\/a> for a single person.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s certainly not enough to live off of. I have other jobs outside of the gym, which is the main way that I sustain myself, and that I\u2019m able to make rent and everything,\u201d said Lam, who also works as a ski instructor and does TaskRabbit gig jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since Movement took over, Callowhill has essentially stopped hiring people into higher-paid instructor slots, Lavin said. Instead, they\u2019re brought on as front desk staff, given training, and scheduled to teach climbers as needed.<\/p>\n Lavin, who was previously a Temple adjunct professor teaching physics, said she earns $17.64 an hour as a front desk supervisor and instructor. She also has part-time jobs at a Poconos ski resort, as a food delivery driver, and with Workers United.<\/p>\n Across the industry, \u201cmost front desk workers are making fairly close to minimum wage. People who coach climbing don\u2019t make much more than that,\u201d Vanek said. \u201cEspecially compared to people who teach tennis or martial arts or gymnastics, there\u2019s a big disparity in terms of how people are compensated.\u201d<\/p>\n He attributed the low pay at Callowhill to Movement\u2019s ownership by a private equity firm.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re trying to make as much money as they can off of these gyms,\u201d he said. \u201cIt raises prices for customers, which pushes some people out, and lowers wages for workers. So there\u2019s an urgency to the work that we\u2019re doing to prevent the impacts of what it means for the industry to be growing and to become more profitable.\u201d<\/p>\n Lost benefits and high turnover<\/p>\n Recent changes to Movement Callowhill\u2019s work scheduling rules \u2014 made without negotiating with the union \u2014\u00a0have made things even tougher for employees, they say.\u00a0<\/p>\n Staff are now required to be available for a certain number of weekday and weekend shifts, and to announce their availability 7 or 8 weeks in advance \u2014 yet managers then take a couple weeks to announce work schedules, Lavin said. In the meantime, employees can\u2019t commit to other jobs, while lacking any guarantee they\u2019ll end up getting enough hours at Callowhill, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company has also cut some benefits \u2014 free classes, a discounted membership for a friend, and two months of free membership after leaving the job \u2014 and reduced overall staffing, from more than 60 people to fewer than 50, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those changes have contributed to \u201ccrazy\u201d turnover, with only about five employees remaining of those who organized the union two and a half years ago, Lavin said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe company loves hiring teenagers and students who are not in a position to advocate for themselves or really have a vested interest in the gym as a space,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cSo those people tend to come and go relatively quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Lavin and Lam said they also wished the company did more to address health and safety issues. Water occasionally leaks through the ceiling and accumulates under gym mats, and Lam is concerned about continually breathing in chalk dust and shoe rubber particulate<\/a>. Only supervisors are trained in CPR, first aid, and things like broken belay rescues or helping someone high up on a wall who isn\u2019t tied in correctly, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know the last time we did training on that at Callowhill, so if someone were to be climbing incorrectly, I wouldn\u2019t know what to do,\u201d Lam said. \u201cI\u2019ve, like, read the paperwork, but I haven\u2019t been formally trained.\u201d<\/p>\n Months without negotiations<\/p>\n At the Movement Crystal City gym in Arlington, Virginia, a desire for a say in how the place is run, concerns about a shrinking staff, and a lack of pay transparency led employees to start organizing in 2021<\/a>. They got help from Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.<\/p>\n The company made clear it opposed the effort.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done a good job building an engaging and fulfilling workplace, based on direct communication with our employees,\u201d Robert Cohen, Movement\u2019s CEO at the time, told Climbing Business Journal. \u201cWe would like to continue on this path and not be inhibited by a third party.\u201d<\/p>\n A majority of workers voted to unionize, and after the National Labor Relations Board overruled three objections filed by the company, Crystal City became the first unionized climbing gym. The U.S. now has 27 unionized gyms, including eight Movement locations, according to Vanek and Lavin.<\/p>\n However, so far there are only three contracts in the industry: two at VITAL gyms in Manhattan and Brooklyn, both ratified in 2024, and another covering 96 workers at four Vertical Endeavors gyms in Minnesota, which was approved last September.<\/p>\n At Callowhill, contract negotiations have been slow since employees voted to unionize in December 2023, Vanek and Lavin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n There were no negotiations from July through December last year, which Lavin attributed to Movement\u2019s lawyer refusing all of the union\u2019s proposed meeting dates. Movement disagreed with that characterization, saying the union experienced turnover and stopped communicating with the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMore recently, communication has resumed, and we have been working through the appropriate legal channels to coordinate next steps at the bargaining table,\u201d the company spokesperson said. \u201cOur focus remains on constructive dialogue and productive engagement through established processes.\u201d<\/p>\n Movement and its unionized members have had bargaining sessions this year, but not specifically about Callowhill\u2019s contract, Lavin said.<\/p>\n The two sides have agreed on some non-economic issues, including discipline and discharge procedures, but have been \u201cfighting\u201d for over a year over pay, benefit, and health and safety proposals, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we don\u2019t have the entire contract ratified, we don\u2019t actually get any of the material benefits of any of the things that the company has agreed to yet,\u201d Lavin said.<\/p>\n A tough fight ahead<\/p>\n Workers United has tried to pressure Movement to bargain more seriously, in part by working to educate and win support from gym members, organizers said.<\/p>\n The union held a Solidarity Night in November with affinity groups, including Philly Climbers of Color and PHLash, an LGBTQIA+ climbers group. The event included a food drive inspired by recent cuts to SNAP food benefits, as a reminder that some Callowhill employees\u2019 low earnings qualified them for food aid. Workers United also scheduled \u201cpractice\u201d pickets<\/a> outside Callowhill and a gym in Brooklyn in December (although the Philadelphia event was rained out).<\/p>\n In October, Lavin and other Movement employees from across the country flew to Boulder, Colorado to try to meet with the company\u2019s CEO Anne-Worley Moelter. She agreed to meet, but barred union representatives from the room and said employees had to leave their phones outside. The group filed an unfair labor practice claim with the NLRB, alleging Movement \u201cinterfered with, restrained and coerced employees\u201d by not letting in the union reps.<\/p>\n The company declined to comment on the NLRB complaint, but noted that the visit was unannounced and described it as \u201coutside of any bargaining sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n Moelter \u201cimmediately cleared her schedule to meet with and listen to fellow team members in person. She\u2026had a respectful conversation in which she listened to questions and concerns,\u201d Movement said. \u201cThey agreed on appropriate next steps for continued dialogue through existing channels \u2014 namely, the contract negotiation table with established representatives from both sides on agreed-upon dates.\u201d<\/p>\n Vanek said Workers United has filed several NLRB complaints against Movement, including claims that the company imposed changes in working conditions at gyms in New York without negotiating.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Movement-food-edit.jpg\")
Movement Callowhill employees Dana Lavin, top left, and Ira Lam, standing next to Lavin, participated in a union solidarity event and food drive at the gym November 2023. (Courtesy of Workers United)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_9976.jpg\")
Movement Callowhill, a rock climbing gym on Callowhill Street in Philadelphia. January 2026. (Meir Rinde\/Billy Penn)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Movement-Callowhill-Philly-Vote-No-flier-Vanek-enh.jpeg\")
Managers at Movement Callowhill posted a sign urging employees to vote no ahead of a November 2023 union election. (Courtesy of Workers United)<\/p>\n