Dancers from the Magic Tavern strip bar in Northwest Portland aim to become just the second unionized group of strippers in the U.S.
The strippers, now formally employed by Magic Tavern, say after repeated and ignored demands for a safer workspace, they’ve filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board through the Actors’ Equity Association — an established union that typically represents stage actors and performers.
“We want to be able to go and do our jobs. We’re very good at it,” a dancer who uses the stage name Daphne told The Oregonian/OregonLive. (The dancers declined to be identified by their legal names due to safety concerns and the stigma associated with their profession.) “We deserve to work in a safe environment, and we deserve to not receive retaliation or discrimination.”
Dancers allege Magic Tavern, which opened in November, is a workplace plagued by unsafe conditions, a lax attitude toward dangerous patron behavior, and unfair terminations.
Daphne said the physical space was often hazardous, with dancers reporting the smell of natural gas near the stage and an improperly installed pole. She said managers neglected to put cameras in the parts of the club where customers interact with dancers.
Dancers said they pressed the club’s owner to install cameras after a dancer tested positive for GHB, a date rape drug. Daphne said the lack of cameras made it difficult for the victim to report the incident and pursue charges.
Some of the performers walked out in early April and will rally in front of Magic Tavern on Sunday.
The owners and managers of Magic Tavern did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
David Levy, a spokesperson for the union, said 23 of 29 dancers working at the club submitted a petition Monday demanding better working conditions, and alleging management had failed to address “abnormally dangerous working conditions,” including the lack of trained security personnel and cameras, building hazards and insecure dressing rooms that customers can easily walk into.
Levy said that dancers at Magic Tavern would ask the club’s managers to bargain with the union voluntarily, and if that doesn’t happen, he said they expect the labor board to hold an official election to certify the union.
Managers of the club may argue the dancers are not eligible to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act. Most strippers in Portland are treated as independent contractors by club owners, Levy said, but the union argues that they are misclassified and should be treated as employees.
The union bid comes amid a broader push to formalize and bring job protections to a historically marginalized and little-regulated industry. This unionization drive also comes as workers in other hard-to-organize industries, including fast-food and retail, have made inroads to organize as employers struggle to hire workers.
If the dancers succeed, Magic Tavern would become the second unionized strip club in the U.S. after the Star Garden in Hollywood, California, unionized this year. The dancers would join the ranks of the Actors’ Equity Association, which represents actors and stage managers on Broadway and at venues such as the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
The Star Garden was not the first strippers union in the U.S. In the late 1990s, dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady organized the Exotic Dancers Union, according to The Associated Press. But that club closed in 2013.
