Despite months of protests and bad press (club’s name withheld) show no signs of treating their workers fairly unless forced.
Strippers’ rights activist group Fired Up Stilettos seek urgent support in parliament as strip clubs across the country continue to introduce new predatory contractual conditions unchallenged.
In the last two months dancers at a club in Christchurch have received facebook messages from management notifying them of new contract clauses, enforced by fines of hundreds of dollars.
These clauses include demanding independent contractors produce a doctors note, at their own expense, if they are too sick to work.
According FUS sources, in the last month multiple dancers have already been fined $250 for failing to submit a doctors note under the new clause.
The club is also enforcing mandatory Friday and Saturday night shifts, with any time off needing to be ‘requested’ 2 weeks in advance.
Dancers contracting to the club are forced into complying with these contracts for fear of income theft and harassment. Working for another company would require dancers to leave their home city and work elsewhere.
Speaking on the issue, Fired up Stilettos gave the following statement:
“Fines in our industry are not fines at all- they are just theft. Money taken from a dancers pay packet before they receive it, with no opportunity for disputes. Sometimes a dancer will be fined before they’ve made an income, becoming indebted to the club. They then have to return to the club to work off a debt- this is modern day slavery.”
Ibrahim Omer’s members bill to criminalise wage theft has been of interest to the Fired Up Stilettos, and had its first reading last week in Parliament. FUS members are expected to be present for the next reading in the coming weeks. The strippers’ rights activist group intends to make submissions to ensure that all contractors are also protected against income theft under this bill.
A dancer Katie* who wishes to remain anonymous is taking (the name of the club is withheld as case is pending) to the small claims court . She paid $1000 bond to the strip club and was led to believe she could have it returned when she moves on to work elsewhere. She traveled 6 hours in total to and from the venue to claim her bond:
“When I got there, one of the managers told me it was forfeited and ‘not my problem’. Their reasoning for not giving my money to me was a lie and I have proof. When I asked the other workers whether they had their money returned to them, they all said no. They were all given excuses as to why their money was not being returned to them and felt they had no power to do anything about it. Well, I am taking them to court. I find it dispicable how they try to exploit women and gender minorities in an already marginalised industry. They should be protecting us, not stealing from us.”
Fired up Stilettos:
“Our society hopes to empower dancers across the motu to challenge these practices in the legal system, but recognises the multiple barriers that stop our workers from doing so. We are in the process of building a support system for dancers that makes this revolution accessible.”
