(LOS ANGELES & SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA) - Workers employed at the Los Angeles and Santa Monica locations of Sugared + Bronzed - a salon chain offering spray tanning and sugaring hair removal services, voted to Unionize with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9505 - forming the first Salon Chain Union in the United States.

And just weeks later, Workers employed at the Westlake Village location in Thousand Oaks, California announced that they too are joining the fight.

Workers at the salon provide an intimate service at a breakneck pace while keeping customers comfortable - appointments are spaced just 20 minutes apart. 

Now they're fighting for provisions that acknowledge the difficulty and hazards of the job: Better pay; Reliable hours; and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to prevent the inhalation of tanning spray.

Delivering a comfortable, safe experience while navigating other demands on the job - applying the tan, ringing up the customer and mopping the walls and floor after a procedure - all before the next client walks in, is a balancing act.

“You’re running around with your head cut off,” said Allie Rooney, who works as both a Sugaring Aesthetician and a Spray Tan Technician - sometimes both in the same shift.

But despite the frantic pace, Workers care deeply about the job.

So, they chose to stick around and fight to make things better.

According to a company history, in 2010 Sugared + Bronzed founder Courtney Claghorn began offering spray tans out of her Santa Monica apartment, opening 10 locations over the next decade.

After private equity firm Main Post Partners bought a stake in 2019, the company expanded to more than 35 salons in: Los Angeles; Orange County, California; San Diego; Washington, D.C.; Miami; New York City; Philadelphia; Dallas; and Houston.

The company employs 400 Workers - and is still expanding.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: How Spray Tan Technicians and Sugaring Aestheticians Built the First Salon Chain Union in the Country | Labor Notes