Several dancers in North Hollywood, California, returned to work Thursday after becoming the only unionized group of strippers in the country.
Star Garden Topless Dive Bar reopened after shutting down when its strippers walked away from their jobs over a year ago, ABC 7 reported Friday.
Now, the strippers are members of the Actors’ Equity Association labor union.
“Just what it represents for the possibilities of changing the industry for the better and really having some power in the workplace,” a dancer identified as Velveeta told Fox 11:
The strippers initially decided to leave their jobs at the establishment due to issues with management. They were worried about patrons abusing them and had safety concerns they claimed management failed to address.
While the club was shut down, it filed for bankruptcy as management and lawyers negotiated with the strippers and their union, Fox 11 reported in May:
“Star Garden agreed to recognize the union and meet at the bargaining table. For now, the strippers will work under an interim agreement,” the ABC 7 report noted.
One stripper named Lilith said the group was on strike for about 15 months. “So we’ve been out of work for 17 months,” she explained.
“We saw our fellow coworkers being in situations where they felt unsafe, and when they brought it to management, they were fired in retaliation. And we knew that we could never speak up if we felt unsafe, and that felt unacceptable,” she added.
