Movement Labor Fight Reaches The North Face Stores Across the U.S.

Movement Gyms employees and their supporters are set to rally outside 10 The North Face stores across the United States on Monday, July 13. Their goal is to pressure the brand to suspend its partnership with the nation’s largest climbing-gym chain, which the union accuses of anti-union practices and stalling contract negotiations.

© Courtesy of Climbing Workers United

The labor dispute between Movement Gyms and some of its employees is expanding once again. After holding pickets outside Movement gyms and asking members to prepare to pause their memberships, Climbing Workers United is now taking its campaign to one of the company’s biggest business partners: The North Face.

At noon local time, Movement employees, Workers United members, and customers are expected to gather outside 10 The North Face stores in Chicago, New York City, Brooklyn, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California. Organizers plan to ask passersby to sign letters addressed to store managers and send messages to the brand’s leadership.

“A partnership with a corporation that violates the rights of its workers contradicts the values of The North Face and VF Corp.—and it must end,” Workers United said in a statement. More specifically, the union is calling on The North Face to suspend the partnership until Movement stops what the union describes as union-busting and begins bargaining in good faith with unionized employees.

The demonstrations come five days before Global Climbing Day, which The North Face and Movement are hosting together on July 18. All Movement gyms will offer free climbing that day, including complimentary gear rentals and classes. The North Face also sponsors other events and competitions held at Movement facilities.

By targeting the brand directly, the unions hope to highlight what they see as a conflict between the partnership and the public commitments of The North Face’s parent company, VF Corporation. VF, which also owns Vans, Timberland, and Smartwool, says it supports “workers’ right to freely choose union representation and to exercise that right without retaliation from their employer.”

“If The North Face and VF believe in workers’ rights and human rights, they need to end this partnership with Movement Gyms until Movement stops union-busting and begins bargaining in good faith with its unionized employees,” Workers United said.

Workers United President Lynne Fox wrote to the CEO of VF Corporation and the Global Brand President of The North Face to request a meeting. According to the union, corporate leadership had taken no action by the day before the rallies, and no meeting had been scheduled.

This latest action is part of a labor dispute that has been building for several years. In November 2021, employees at Movement Crystal City in Virginia became the first workers at a privately operated U.S. climbing gym to vote to unionize. Since late 2024, employees at 10 additional Movement locations have joined Climbing Workers United. As of late June, however, none of those locations had secured a collective bargaining agreement. Unfair labor practice charges have also been filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency responsible for enforcing U.S. labor law. The allegations include unilateral changes to working conditions and bad-faith bargaining.

Climbing Workers United says more than 500 Movement employees are now union members. Across the broader climbing-gym industry, the organization says it represents more than 1,300 workers at 32 gyms nationwide. The July 13 action is not a strike. But it marks another shift in the union’s strategy: After putting pressure on Movement’s leadership and asking customers to get involved, organizers are now calling on the company’s business partners to take a position.