An activist group fighting to improve the rights of contractors working in adult entertainment have today presented their petition to Parliament.
The Fired Up Stilettos formed in response to 19 strippers being fired from Calendar Girls Wellington via Facebook group, and since February have been advocating for strong working rights and protections for strippers and sex workers (who generally work as contractors). Their advocacy has sparked a strong response from workers across Aotearoa, who have come forward with similar stories of poor contractual conditions and workplace conditions.
Their petition – which has been accepted and presented to the House by retiring Green MP and Workforce spokesperson Jan Logie – responds to these issues, and requests that the House of Representatives introduce legislation to protect independent contractor status, outlaw all fines and bonds between operators and contractors; and establish a nationwide mandatory maximum of 20 percent that an employer can take from a contractor’s profits.
Logie invited the Fired Up Stilettos to speak at Parliament in March, where they announced their petition. It closed with over 7000 signatures.
“We are an industry that has been swept under the rug and overlooked for decades.” say a Fired Up Stilettos representative. “This is because of the past systemic, social stigma and demonisation of our workers that has kept them silent and allows venues to exploit them. We hope that through gathering public support for our petition that we have improved general understanding of us as workers and began a process not only to improve our rights but to end the stigma and misconceptions about us as human beings.”
The petition is expected to be considered during the next term of Parliament, and the group hopes this will lead to a legislative response, protecting the rights of independent contractors in the sex industry.
“Our work is not precarious because of the work we do but speaks to the power imbalance where club owners and managers hold all the rights and we have none. A legislative response is the only response that will improve our conditions as we have exhausted all other avenues.”
