Strip club dancers leave careers, in debt
Friday, 25 August 2023
Dancers at a Wellington strip club say they are burnt out, working long hours, unable to take sick leave without being penalised – and many are walking off the job.
Among them is Tiffany* who, after working at the The Mermaid on Courtenay Place for over a year, has two weeks left there.
She said she enjoyed the work. “I love how empowered it makes me feel … It allowed me to open up and have a lot more confidence.”
But over time, the job brought in less and less of an income. She sometimes spent weeks at a time not earning any money.
Club rules and management had exacerbated the issue, she said.
In June, dancers at The Mermaid raised concerns after the club owner made them sign a form stating tipping by customers was not compulsory “regardless of where they are seated”. It went against how strip clubs were set up and jeopardised one of the main sources of their income, they said at the time.
As independent contractors, dancers earn money through tips and private dances, but a percentage of their earnings goes back to the venue – in the case of The Mermaid, it was more than 50% for private dances, while they could keep 100% of their tips.
One dancer at the time said the owner was inflicting “severe and economic and psychological distress” because of the wage cuts.
Dancers were required to pay a shift fee even if they did not earn anything, Tiffany said. As a result, she had borrowed money from friends and family to pay her bills, leaving her in debt.
“There’s just not enough money in the club any more for me to justify staying.”
Following the tipping rule enforcement, dancers requested a meeting with CJ Davis – the sole owner of the club, according to a document seen by The Post.
Previously, a group of 19 dancers at nearby Calendar Girls was fired en masse after 35 of them signed an email to collectively bargain for better work conditions. The Mermaid dancers feared similar retribution, but were at breaking point, one said.
A letter was sent to Davis on June 12, outlining the dancers’ concerns and asking to meet and discuss them. It included bringing in majority $5 and $3 tipping bills, rather than $2, which led to customers spending less, particularly if the non-compulsory tipping rule were not to change.
“It feels violating to dance for free, especially when some nights most of our money can come from tips,” the letter read.
It requested fines be removed from their contract because it created an unsafe environment, as dancers were hesitant to ask management for help.
Opening hours had been extended but the club was often empty for the last three to four hours, the dancers said. They requested the club close earlier if no customers were in the club within the last one to two hours and to not be charged a shift fee if the majority of dancers did not make any money on a night.
But over two months later the workers had not heard anything, one dancer, who wanted to remain anonymous said. She feared retribution at work. “Nothing has really changed.”
Tiffany said dancers were also required to work a minimum of three nights – one of which had to be a Friday or Saturday. The rules were contrary to the freedom that should come with being an independent contractor, she said.
Margot Embargot, spokesperson strip club dancer collective Fired Up Stilettos, said the group contacted Davis, asking that management meet with dancers to discuss their concerns.
Davis did not respond to multiple emails sent by The Post and calls went straight to voice mail.
In a petition submitted after a meeting at Parliament in March, Fired Up Stilettos requested the right to bargain collectively while maintaining an independent contract status, outlawing all fines and bonds between employers and contractors, and establishing a nationwide mandatory maximum of 20% that an employer can take from a contractor’s profits.
It gathered over 7000 signatures and was accepted and presented to the House by Green MP Jan Logie who had supported the group since February.
*Not her real name