Date: Wed, 14 Aug 1996 23:28:34 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Solidarity Forever (fwd)




>From the SF Chronicle, August 14, 1996

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North Beach Strippers Unite
Dancers could be first in the country to unionize 

Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer

The Lusty Lady may seem a strange place to find the fractious spirit
of Joe Hill. 

But the ghost of the legendary labor leader is haunting the peek
booths of this North Beach strip
club. You can almost hear the stirring strains of ``Solidarity
Forever'' between the beats of the
bump-and-grind music. 

The strippers have had it with lousy working conditions and unfair
pay, they say -- and they're
going to do something about it. 

A majority of the club's 60 exotic dancers have signed petitions with
the Service Employees
International Union, Local 790. On August 29 and 30, the dancers will
vote on union representation
in a National Labor Relations Board election. 

If enough dancers vote yes, the Lusty Lady will become the first
unionized strip club in the country.
And more San Francisco sex clubs will follow, the stripper-labor
activists pledge. 

``The (sex) industry is ripe for organizing,'' said Sanda Steinbauer,
a representative of the union. 

``There's growing recognition among sex workers that they deserve the
same protections and
benefits as other working people,'' said Steinbauer. ``There's a new
spirit taking hold in this city.'' 

Steinbauer said the union had some initial doubts about representing
the dancers. 

``They approached us on the recommendation of the Exotic Dancers
Alliance (an advocacy group
for sex workers),'' she said. ``We gave them a set of criteria to
meet, and they met every one. After
that, we couldn't refuse them -- they were just too determined to
organize.'' 

If a majority of the dancers vote for the union, Local 790 will begin
contract negotiations with the
Lusty Lady's management. Targeted issues include job security,
guaranteed shifts, working
conditions, sick leave, health insurance and the elimination of
favoritism in promotions. 

``The Lusty Lady is one of the best strip joints in town -- but that
isn't saying much,'' said a dancer
who calls herself Jane. ``On the plus side, we work on a stage
separated from the customers. But
we're not guaranteed hours, raises are based strictly on management's
whims, and we work below
market value. We're just fighting for the basic protections most
working people take for granted.'' 

Velvet, another dancer, said the Lusty Lady's troupe decided to
organize after images of some of the
dancers showed up on the Internet. 

``People in the one-ways (booths that feature one-way glass) were
taking videos of us without us
knowing it,'' said Velvet. ``Those images were going out without our
consent. We weren't receiving
compensation, and many of us didn't want our friends and relatives
viewing them.'' 

Velvet said the dancers asked for the removal of the one-way booths,
but management temporized
until the strippers approached the union. 

``Then they took them out -- but by then it was too late,'' said
Velvet. ``We had spent a lot of time
educating ourselves on labor law and history, and we all agreed we
had a right to organize.'' 

June Cade, the Lusty Lady's general manager, said she is perplexed by
her dancers' militancy. 

``We had some communications problems, but I didn't realize how upset
they were,'' said Cade. ``I
feel hurt, because I've probably done more for (female exotic
dancers) than anyone on the West
Coast. I had a meeting about it (with the dancers), and I ended up in
tears.'' 

Cade recognized the larger agenda behind the organizing. ``I think
they plan to go to all the other
clubs,'' she said. ``This is probably just the beginning.'' 

Dancer Jane said the fight over unionizing at the Lusty Lady is
likely to intensify, citing
management's decision to retain a large San Francisco law firm.
``They're also targeting union
organizers,'' she said. ``Some of us have arbitrarily received final
dismissal warnings, so we've filed
a suit under the Unfair Labor Practices Act with the National Labor
Relations Board.'' 

Jane said the sex trade's culture accepts that dancers endure varying
degrees of abuse and poor
working conditions. ``Maybe organizing will finally change that,''
she said. 




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