Strip dancers to lobby MPs over pay, employment conditions
A group of strip club dancers will meet with MPs today to lobby over what they see as unfair employment conditions.
It was reported last month that 19 strippers from Calender Girls in Wellington were sacked after co-signing a group email questioning their employment conditions. At the time, a spokesperson for the group, a 35-strong collective called Fired Up Stilettos, told Stuff that the dancers fired were seen as troublemakers by management.
Now, members of the group will speak directly to MPs. They are asking for a nationwide, mandatory maximum on what venues are able to take from the money client’s pay to dancers.
“It’s a vicious cycle of silencing people who have just got to the point in the industry where they feel empowered to stand up for themselves,” Laura, one of the group, told Stuff of the decision to speak out.
“There’s no one holding them [clubs] accountable. There’s no system holding them accountable. It’s ridiculous.”