Pay cut undermines expertise of fitness instructors

To the editor:

Re: 'City fitness instructor throws in the towel,' News, Feb. 10

I would like to thank The Etobicoke Guardian for researching and publishing this article. I feel that by cutting the hourly pay for fitness and line dance instructors, the city is sending the message that it does not value the expertise of these instructors.

As a participant in the aquafit and line dancing classes, I can attest to the expertise of the instructors in teaching the classes specifically for seniors. For example, in the aquafit class some participants do their exercises in the shallow end and others in the deep end. For each exercise, the instructor has to provide shallow-end and deep-end instructions. Some participants have had knee or hip replacements, and the instructor always lets them know how to do an exercise without injuring themselves. The aquafit exercises take us through a warm up, stretches, a cardio workout, strengthening of all muscle groups, and a cool down and final stretches. To my mind, the instructor's knowledge of the elderly human body and exercises that benefit it are considerable and do not deserve a cut in pay.

Similarly, the line dancing instructor understood that our ages ranged from 61 to 90 and that our bodies couldn't do the same things that a 30 year old could do: the dance steps were tailored to us and she always cautioned participants who had knee or hip replacements. She explained and demonstrated dance steps frequently. Not only did the dances exercise our bodies and our coordination, but also our minds, for we had to remember dance steps, routines, and tunes. She also did a name-recall exercise that led us to know each other's names after three weeks so we felt comfortable enough to have coffee together in the lounge.

I am sure that all of the instructors and other staff whose pay has been cut are well-qualified and experienced in their fields. Many of these staff work part-time and as part-timers probably do not get benefits and frequently have to travel from one location to another putting wear and tear on their cars and paying exorbitant gas prices. It is hard enough to make a living in the City of Toronto. The cuts are a slap in the face and I fear that it will become more difficult to attract such well-qualified instructors to city programs and that the programs may erode in the future. I think that it is very important that people who participate in the classes of the instructors affected let their councillors and Mayor Ford know that these reductions in hourly pay are unacceptable.

Mara Glebovs