A Toronto-based agency that represents sex workers has joined the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in a historic move. Their unionisation is the first of its kind in the country. The group’s name is Maggie’s. Among the benefits of unionizing, according to Jassie Justice, a Maggie’s outreach worker, is that ‘staff are able to take a stand against racism, transphobia, and low wages’.
Maggie’s employees will only be represented by the union, but the move could spark a trend across Canada. As a result of unions, sexual workers can force their employers to provide paternity leave, paid time off, and meaningful ways to address workplace violations and abuses. The pay-docking problem can also be resolved with it. In many Canadian cities, strippers are required to work for third-party agencies in order to find work in clubs, so they are subject to the treatment they receive from clubs and from people coordinating their work.
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Strippers who are late or go over their goal will have their pay docked by clubs that take a cut and penalize them for being late. Strippers described the situation as ‘straight-up extortion’. The situation is made worse by the lack of government guidelines that protect sex workers, including strippers.
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