Another article on prostitutes' unions -
http://www. global-labour.org/sex_workers.htm
"De Rode Draad (Red Thread), which was founded as an advocacy group in 1985, recognized this distinction when it separated its advocacy and union functions following the legalization of prostitution in the Netherlands in October 2000. In June 2002, the union Vakwerk De Rode Draad was established; it is now part of Bondgenoten FNV, which is the largest union within the FNV trade union confederation, itself the largest central trade union organization in the country. The Foundation De Rode Draad continues as an advocacy and support group.
Although De Rode Draad (DRD) first contacted the union in 1991, these first contacts remained inconclusive because of a dilemma which is familiar to others involved in organizing workers in the informal economy: the union would not accept members that were not in a clear employer-employee relationship whereas sex workers were, and mostly still are, self-employed. In addition, DRD was reluctant to accept any form of labour contract that would not fully safeguard the anonymity of its members. Eventually, however, DRD began to accept the idea of employment with a labour contract and, more importantly, the Bondgenoten FNV established a department for own-account workers.
The second round of discussions took place shortly before legalization of brothels. At that point, the Bondgenoten Executive decided that sex workers could become members.
How does DRD work with the union? Sietske Altink, spokesperson of the DRD Foundation, describes it as follows:
"They support us in making a union for sex workers, in our own office that is associated with the big union. So we do the intake. And women don’t have to state their names, etc. in a rather official setting of a regular trade union. We can use their expertise in concrete cases. Time will tell if it has to stay this way or if we’ll become fully integrated. Self employed sex workers can also become members."
"The FNV gives us full support in case of labour conflicts in brothels, whether individually or collectively."
"They also support us in political action and they pull all their force because they are fully recognized by the government as a social partner in our ‘poldermodel’ (the Dutch social model)."
"Besides they are developing a tailor made training program for sex workers so they can become fully fledged shop stewards."
"And they made us some materials."
"And last but not least, they are entitled to make a collective labour contract that should be valid nation-wide for those sex workers who want to enter the employer-employee relationship."
We see working with a regular trade union as a great step forward:
first and foremost: official recognition
expertise in the case of labour conflicts
weighty partner in political issues.
Altink, further describing the co-operation of DRD with Bondgenoten FNV, writes:
“Now we are debating about exploitation of undocumented sex workers. We want to know if there is some kind of action possible in parallel with exploitation of people in garment sweatshops, domestic work in conditions of slavery. We are trying to work out something for those sex workers, so they have a means of redress, which should be better than just deportation. But ... there is this sensitive issue about undocumented women: we want more women to be documented but you should not make exceptions. Our view is: migrant sex workers should enjoy the same rights and be subject to the same restrictions as migrants in other professions. Of course you can denounce national immigration policies as too limited. But then you should address it as a matter of immigration policy that concerns people in ALL professions.
“And that brings me to the 50,000 euro question: what are the advantages (of the union) for a sex worker who won’t or can’t associate? E.g. the undocumented women? Or for sex workers who don’t perceive themselves as sex workers and have taken up the work ‘just for a couple of days’ to get some temporary financial relief? The answer should be plain and simple: they should be able to apply for support even if we don’t know their names and legal status. We as a union are not the police, we don’t check on residence permits or whatever. We don’t do the work of the police.”
“But how do brothel owners react? They didn’t exactly send us a box of cigars to celebrate. We encouraged the existing organizations of brothel owners to take their next historically important step and become a member of the official organizations for employers. Some of them had come across that idea themselves. Some are willing to take their seat at the negotiating table. But on the whole, they sort of reacted scared and aggressive, not unlike the great captains of industry in the nineteenth century when workers got organized. In practice, this means we get kicked out of brothels often. There is a long way to go. We don’t expect we will succeed within the next year.
“But let me conclude: there is one thing worse than fighting brothel owners and that is not fighting brothel owners. There is one thing worse than fighting exploitation, and that is not fighting exploiting. And there is one thing worse than organizing and that is not organizing. And there is one thing worse than just a small group of organized sex workers and that is no group at all.”
In July, DRD reported that the brothel owners were now prepared to enter negotiations for a national collective agreement and had a formal representative in the employers' organization.
The International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW) is a London-based organization which, despite of its name, only covers the London area although its membership includes persons of many nationalities.
In the editorial of the first issue of its journal in July 2000, the IUSW explained its decision to form a union as follows:
“The sex industry has gone global, making vast profits for a small number of individuals, few of whom are women. ... Sex workers may have been forced into their employment, or may freely have chosen such work. Either way, they have no union which - even in principle - they can join. Marginalised throughout society, they are ignored or shunned by the official trades union movement. We aim to change all that.
“As in all workers’ struggles, emancipation can only be achieved through self-organisation. But above all, this struggle begins with pride and respect. ... The way to combat criminal abuse of peoples’ bodies for profit is to bring the whole industry out. When the oldest profession comes out, pimps and capitalists beware! ... Whatever your sex or sexual situation, if you feel you need a union, you are welcome to join!”
On March 2, 2002 IUSW members voted to become affiliated to the GMB, Britain’s fourth largest union. IUSW secretary Ana Lopes said that joining the GMB will strengthen the IUSW’s voice on such issues as the decriminalisation of prostitution in the UK:
“We’re trying to remove the stigma against sex work and sex workers. We think that changing the law - decriminalising sex work - is one of the steps towards it and it’s a very important one. The same happened with gay rights: when they removed the laws that actually helped social attitudes to change as well.”
A GMB spokeswoman, Lisa Venes, said:
“There are lots of areas where we could improve conditions for sex industry workers. For a start, the hours many people in the sex industry work are totally erratic. We are also talking about telephone-sex operators working from call centres, and people who work in factories manufacturing sex toys on minimum wages.”
The GMB has offered its newly recruited sex workers self-defence classes, free legal advice and exit training for those who feel they might like to change their jobs. It also offered help with issues such as a prostitutes’ right to insist clients wear condoms and campaigning for statutory health checks.
De Rode Draad and the IUSW are numerically quite small. DRD has only about one hundred regular dues-paying members, out of an estimated potential ranging from 25,000 (EU estimate) to 50,000 (DRD estimate). IUSW now has 150 members out of a potential of 80,000 (EU estimate, almost certainly understated by half). This is due to the specific difficulties sex workers’ unions encounter when organizing (the distrust of sex workers of any authority, a concern to protect privacy and, indeed, anonymity, the high proportion of undocumented workers) in addition to the “normal” difficulties any union faces when organizing.
It should be noted that unionized sex workers are an elite group. Becoming a union activist in this environment requires an exceptionally strong personality, and a very high degree of intelligence and commitment. It may be said that such are the qualities required for any union organizing anywhere, but it is clear that in sex work the demands and the pressures on the person are unlike any other normally encountered in union organizing. It should also be noted that the influence of even small sex workers’ unions goes far beyond their regular membership. DRD literature, for example, gets distributed to about 10,000 persons.
The small membership base means, however, that such organizations cannot be financially self-supporting. Membership dues are symbolic (in the case of Vakwerk DRD, EUR40 per year). External funding comes from the mainstream unions (Bondgenoten FNV and GMB); other income comes from fund drives, sponsoring events, donations, etc. NGOs dealing with sex work issues are typically funded by foundations, governments and inter-governmental organizations. Some claim to be self-supporting through the sale of souvenirs and donations.
DRD and IUSW are currently the only two sex workers’ unions in Europe which are part of the mainstream trade union movement. This is likely to change as sex work becomes decriminalized in other European countries. In May, a delegation from the Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft (Ver.di) (United Service Workers’ Union), the largest union in Germany, visited DRD to get information about the Dutch situation and declared the interest of their union to take on the cause of sex workers in view of the legalization of sex work in Germany.
The membership situation can be very different in other regions. For example, the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a Calcutta-based sex workers’ organization, claims 60,000 members in Bengal.
Asociación de las Mujeres Meretrices de Argentina (AMMAR) (Association of Women Sex Workers of Argentina), founded on March 20, 2002, has its headquarters in Buenos Aires, where it is known as AMMAR Capital. The national Executive Committee (Comisión Directiva), elected by the first National Assembly of Sex Workers in March 2000, is composed of eight sex workers and its work in Buenos Aires is supported by three social psychologists, a (woman) lawyer, neighbours (voluntary workers) and a district delegate in each of the eight city districts where most of its members work. The Executive Committee members include a legal representative, a treasurer, a member responsible for human rights work, a member responsible for social action and a secretary. AMMAR describes itself as “a flat structure, democratic and pluralist.”
AMMAR is affiliated to the Central de los Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA), a national trade union confederation formed a few years ago in opposition to the larger Confederación General de Trabajadores (CGT).
The objectives of AMMAR are “to strengthen, transmit and implement to our comrades (compañeras) policies of self-respect, managing their own lives and autonomy, and above all make them conscious of gender and identity issues.”
This is carried out through informal and participative workshops, where information is conveyed on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, human rights, among other issues. These workshops are conducted in cooperation with the AIDS Coordination of the municipal government of Buenos Aires. Another aspect of this cooperation is the distribution of condoms through dispensers in the neighbourhoods where its members are working. AMMAR Capital also distributes condoms from its office.
AMMAR Capital has reached an agreement with the city hospitals for the provision of health services to its members, including pap tests, mammography, hepatitis vaccinations, HIV tests.
Since April 2002, AMMAR Capital is a partner of the social services of the municipal government in distributing food parcels (from its office) as part of the municipality’s Food Policy Program. Last year it distributed 200 parcels and 200 bags of fruit and vegetables a month, this year it distributes 400 of each (a food parcel contains vegetable oil, flour, pasta, milk, rice, maté tea, sugar, lentils, cocoa, canned fish; a bag of produce contains 9 kg of potatoes, pumpkin, onions, carrots, oranges, apples). AMMAR Capital also runs a clothes dispensary for its more needy members.
Through the CTA, AMMAR has reached agreement with the national register of inhabitants, to provide identity papers for its Argentine members who lost theirs, or had them stolen, or never had any. It has now included friendly NGOs in this service and in five months distributed 450 identity cards.
AMMAR has also gained access to the Women’s Commission of Parliament, where it meets once a week with men and women deputies to discuss women’s issues.
Together with another organization, AMMAR has secured an agreement with the Ministry of Labour for payment of unemployment benefits under a plan covering own-account workers.
In 2002, AMMAR has also been asked by LUSIDA (the national anti-AIDS program) to run workshops in the provinces of Chaco and Corrientes. After these workshops, a branch of AMMAR was established in Chaco.
This is, in summary, the report on activities of AMMAR for the year 2002. They conclude:
“We are promoting work in groups, empowerment through knowledge, the exercise of power and decision making. We are building social networks because we have realized that united we can achieve more, that is why we are supporting all the struggles of our fellow workers. Ourselves, through our organization, have recognized ourselves as real citizens, capable of exercising our rights responsibly and to carrying out our duties faithfully and effectively.”
Zi Teng (18) is a NGO in Hong Kong that describes itself as a sex workers concern organization. It is formed by social workers, labour activists, researchers specializing in women’s studies, church workers and others. It is a membership organization: any person who supports and practices its aims is eligible to join. There are “basic members” who have the right to vote in the general assembly, the right of nomination and election, and “contact members” who do not have these rights but share other membership rights such as participating in all activities, use the services, resources and data bank and take part in deciding the work, activities and direction of the organization. The annual membership fee is HKD100 for basic members and HKD50 for contact members. Zi Teng activities are also supported by the Dutch development funding agency NOVIB, Bread for the World and others.
Its partners are women from Hong Kong and China who work as sex workers. Zi Teng provides them with information on their legal rights, occupational safety and health and other social resources, by means of publications (pamphlets, handouts) and direct contact. It also helps them in networking and building up a mutual support system.
To improve communications between sex workers, concerned organizations and society at large, Zi Teng publishes newsletters, stories and oral histories and videos, aiming at providing a better understanding of sex workers, as well as their work and their situation. The objective is to change the attitude of the public to sex workers and eventually eliminate discrimination against them.
Zi Teng also monitors government policies and legislation, and reacts to the possible impact these may have on the situation of sex workers. It also lobbies health authorities to respond to the health care needs of sex workers.
It conducts research on various issues concerning the situation and needs of sex workers, sex work related law and policies of Hong Kong and other countries, occupational safety and health of sex workers, etc.
Its publications include:
a Research Report on Mainland Chinese Sex Workers, in Hong Kong, Macau and “Town B” in the Pearl River Delta (144 p., February 2000). Zi Teng also organized a conference in Zhuhai in early 2000.
a report on the conference organized together with the Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC) on Building an Effective Network in the Service of Migrant Sex Workers in East and South East Asia (Hong Kong, June 27-29, 2001), 176 p., August 2001. This conference involved participation and reports from twelve Asian countries and territories as well as from Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. It was addressed by representatives of the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW) and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
“Things to Know Before You Go”: a handbook for migrant sex workers in Asia, with basic legal information on the sex industry and immigration (prostitution laws, immigration laws, public health control), general work contracts and working conditions within the sex services sector and basic information on local organizations or institutions that would provide help to migrant sex workers. It covers thirteen countries and territories in Asia. (64 p., n.d.).
The Exotic Dancers’ Union represents strippers in San Francisco. It is a chapter of the Service Workers’ International Union, Local 790. In January this year it negotiated a two-year contract with the Lusty Lady strip club which restores a pay cut made almost two years ago back to a top scale of USD27 per hour, gradually raises pay by USD3 per hour, adds USD2 per shift in the first year and USD4 per shift in the second year for preparation time (hair do and makeup) and increases sick pay to one-and-a-half days. It also establishes a hiring level ensuring that all strippers can get the shifts they are asking for. The agreement was reached following a demonstration by the strippers in San Francisco’s North Beach neighbourhood. The Lusty Lady is so far the only unionized strip club in the US. (19)"