Show us the ropes: How Touchstone Climbing Gym workers unionized five locations

Show us the ropes: How Touchstone Climbing Gym workers unionized five locations

Author: Working People March 15, 2025 Duration: 51:03

This week, we're staying in Southern California, where the workers of Touchstone Climbing Gym in Los Angeles have been negotiating their first contract with their employer. Touchstone Climbing, a regional climbing gym with over a dozen locations in California, experienced a wave of unionization in its Los Angeles locations early last year. The successful campaign with Workers United created a wall-to-wall union at each of the company's five locations in the Los Angeles area. Members of the LA-based gym are often themselves union members, and the response from the climbing community has been overwhelmingly positive.

 

However, workers have been navigating a frustrating negotiation in order to reach an agreement on a first contract. Chief among workers' demands is better communications, higher safety standards, and better pay. 

 

With me today to discuss their unionization, and their negotiations are Ryan Barkauskas, PT desk staff at The Post in Pasadena and Jess Kim, Former Desk Staff at the Post in Pasadena, now FT Workers United organizer. 

 

Additional links/info: 

 

Permanent links below…

 

Featured Music…

  • Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

 

Studio Production: Mel Buer
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

 


There’s a conversation happening about the economy, politics, and culture, but too often the actual voices of the people who keep everything running are absent. Working People changes that. This is a place where the lived experience of the working class in modern America takes center stage. Produced in partnership with In These Times magazine and The Real News Network, each episode is built around a candid interview with someone from the vast and varied landscape of the American workforce. You’ll hear from teachers, factory workers, service industry employees, caregivers, and many others, each sharing the unvarnished details of their daily reality. Conversations naturally unfold to cover not just the specifics of their jobs, but the broader context of their lives-their personal histories, their political views, the dynamics within their families, and the unique blend of satisfaction and struggle that defines their world. The Working People podcast doesn’t offer abstract analysis; it provides a direct, human connection to the stories that collectively shape our society. It’s about understanding the hopes, the frustrations, and the resilience that are woven into the fabric of working-class life today. By listening, you get a genuine portrait of the people whose labor is so often discussed, yet whose own narratives are so rarely heard in such depth.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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