Strippers at Star Garden topless dive bar in North Hollywood set to vote to join union

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES — Strippers at the Star Garden topless dive bar in North Hollywood will soon be receiving ballots to hold an election for collective bargaining, which could result in the first union of strippers in the United States in more than a year. decade.

On Thursday, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board of Los Angeles issued the ruling and election order in a case that began when 18 dancers were locked out of the club in March.

Among the issues strippers say they want to address are club security guards who repeatedly fail to protect them from threatening and abusive behavior by patrons.

On November 7, the NLRB will count the votes of Star Garden dancers, artists and DJs, determining whether they will join the Actors Equity Association, a union of artists and other show business professionals. If successful, they would be the first unionized strippers in the United States since the country’s only unionized strip club, the Lusty Lady in San Francisco, which closed in 2013, according to Actors Equity.

“The NLRB’s decision comes as no surprise. The facts are clear: Star Garden workers have a right to a union election,” said Andrea Hoeschen, Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of the Actors’ Equity Association. “We look forward to a successful election and subsequent contract negotiation.”

Calls and emails to the owner and attorney representing Star Garden were not returned. They also did not respond to two earlier CNN articles about the organizing effort.

This election comes as the NLRB reported a 53% increase in petitions for union representation filed in the 12 months ending September 30, compared to the previous year. The agency said it was the highest number of requests for union representation filed since fiscal year 2016.

The NLRB also reported a 19 percent increase in unfair labor practice charges, compared to the same 12 months the year before.

The Star Garden dancers told CNN they’ve been inspired by other organizing efforts in other industries and even attended a labor conference this summer in Chicago, where they met other organizers.

Their problems developed in the spring, when a couple of dancers tried to convince a patron to delete a video he had taken of their colleague on stage, which is against club rules, according to one of the dancers, who s called Velveeta.

But one of the workers who complained was fired. Several dancers signed a petition asking for the reinstatement of their colleagues, as well as the application of the no-photography policy. They were expelled from the club the following day.

Since then, dancers have been picketing most weekends outside the Star Garden, dressed in themed costumes, urging patrons to various clubs.

Velveeta asked CNN to identify her only by her professional name for fear of being blacklisted or stalked.

She told CNN in August that the owners run the establishment assuming the customer is always right, with one frequently dismissing dancers’ complaints as just “the start of a drama.”

Yet she said she saw a dancer dragged by her shoe across the stage by a patron, another dancer slapped and others touched inappropriately by patrons.

Reacting to the NLRB’s decision to allow a union election, Velveeta said: “This is a big step forward for us in this fight and it gives us renewed energy to keep the pressure on until we get our union contract. I am so proud of the work we have done and what we have achieved. We are buzzing with excitement and love for each other and we are stronger than ever as we approach this election. .

About 30 strippers are eligible to vote on whether to join the union, according to Actors Equity. The 109-year-old union represents 51,000 actors and other professionals working on everything from Broadway shows to performances at Disney World and dozens of theaters across the country.

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