The only unionised bunch of strippers in the US may soon be dancers at a Los Angeles pub. According to the Actors’ Equity Association labour union, the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar owners in North Hollywood have dropped their objections and agreed to recognise the union for strippers. Dancers at the club have been requesting advantages such as better salaries, health insurance, and safer working conditions for the past 15 months. However, the club’s management’s protests and legal battles prevented them from unionising. This Thursday, the union revealed that management had accepted a deal. The National Labour Relations Board has scheduled a formal vote count for Thursday.
The Exotic Dancers Union was founded by dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady in the late 1990s
“We’re hoping what we’ve done to unionize this club will have laid the groundwork for any other stripper in the country who decides that they want to also have a voice in the way their workplace is run,” Lilith, a dancer at Star Garden, told The Associated Press. Lilith asked not to be identified by her legal name in this article, due to fears of being harassed or stalked. The AP is aware of her legal name. The Star Garden dancers will join Actors’ Equity, a union that represents more than 51,000 people employed in the entertainment business nationally, after becoming certified. The case of Star Garden is not the first time American strippers have requested union registration. The Exotic Dancers Union was founded by dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady in the late 1990s. However, that club closed in 2013, thus if Thursday’s conclusions are confirmed by the NLRB as anticipated, the Star Garden dancers will be the only unionised strippers in the nation. The Star Garden dancers’ union dispute began in March 2022, when security personnel at the club “repeatedly failed to protect” dancers from threatening or abusive patron behaviour and fired those who raised concerns with management. actor’s union
“The positive side of Star Garden is that … it’s where dancers are allowed to express themselves in creative ways. And all of my coworkers looked out for each other — it was like a little family from the start,” Lilith said. “So, when we started noticing that there were some safety concerns that we all had, it didn’t take long for us to band together and decide we needed to do something about it,” Lilith mentioned a few incidents where sexual harassment and assault, which dancers frequently experience, left her and other dancers feeling insecure while performing. Dancers were instructed to go to management instead of going directly to security if they felt unsafe, according to Lilith, who noted that management would determine “if it was a severe enough instance for security to intervene.”
Lilith and other dancers said they were looking forward to preparing a union contract and returning to work
The dancers felt dangerous since guests could see them clothed ‘out of our stripper personalities’ and determine whose cars they drove when they went home, she claimed. Customers were also permitted to remain in the pub after closing. One dancer, according to Lilith, was dismissed as a result of raising her concerns about this with management. She claimed that one dancer was fired for interfering when she saw a patron filming a colleague on stage without her permission. The Star Garden dancers banded together after the two coworkers were let go in an effort to win back their jobs. They attempted to picket outside the club after being locked out of their jobs after handing a safety petition to their superiors, according to Lilith. They later announced their affiliation with Actors’ Equity, which filed for a NLRB guild election on behalf of the group.
The union claims that the NLRB held the election via mail and anticipated tallying the votes in November. The Star Garden, who contested some voters’ eligibility, filed legal challenges, which caused those results to be postponed. Additionally, the club requested bankruptcy protection. According to a statement from attorneys for Star Garden management, as part of the settlement reached on Tuesday, Star Garden promised to drop the bankruptcy file and reopen the club shortly after.
“Star Garden decided to settle, as it has always been a fair and equal opportunity employer, that respects the rights of its employees,” attorneys Josiah R. Jenkins and An Nguyen Ruda said, adding that the club “is committed to negotiating in good faith with Actor’s Equity a first of its kind collective bargaining agreement which is fair to all parties.” Mori Rubin, who approved the settlement as regional director for NLRB’s Region 31, said she admired “the dancers who had the courage to protest their unsafe working conditions” and was “very pleased” with the settlement. Lilith and other dancers said they were looking forward to preparing a union contract and returning to work. “I’m feeling really optimistic about going back,” Lilith said. “It will definitely be surreal being back on that specific stage, but I know we’re going to have our community rallying around us …. And hopefully we’ll be able to show the country how successful a union strip club can be.”
