Stilettos back in Parliament demanding worker rights

Wednesday, 24 July 2024

Members from the Fired Up Stilettos collective were back in Parliament to give an oral submission to the Education and Workforce Select Committee on Wednesday, demanding better rights as strip club dancers. (File photo)

Members of the Fired Up Stilettos were back in Parliament today as they continue their fight for their rights as dancers after exposing the poor working conditions and treatment by strip clubs last year.

Two members of the stripper-led worker’s movement, made oral submissions to the Education and Workforce Select Committee on Wednesday.

Vixen Temple said there was an issue with a lack of power dancers had over their labour and their voices silenced.

Laura Phillips said regulations were required specific to their industry which were completely absent in New Zealand.

Laura Phillips and Vixen Temple from Fired Up Stilettos addressing MPs on why new laws are needed to protect adult entertainers.

She also highlighted the lack of protection from discrimination which impacted their access to housing, banking, employment and the freedom of movement which she wanted to see more protections for.

Simon Cook, principal adviser at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), made the distinction between protections of employees and contractors to the select committee – the latter having far fewer statutory rights.

But dancers had continued to say they would like to remain contractors because of the flexibility of their hours and the autonomy they should have over their own bodies in their work. Not having the rights of an employee but being treated like one was the issue, they said.

Australian lesson from Fired Up Stilettos for New Zealand MPs on how to protect adult entertainment workers.

Cook said some changes had been made to the Fair Trading Act, which provided some regulatory protection for small businesses, including contractors, but did not apply to the dancers. MBIE acknowledged the limitations of the act which would be going under review.

The Fired Up Stilettos submitted their petition last year, forming the collective after 19 dancers were fired from Calendar Girls in Wellington after 35 of them signed an email to collectively bargain for better work conditions.

They described their relationship with venue management at strip clubs as abusive and exploitative.

The petition called for 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.

Many MPs present, including the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March, Labour’s Camilla Belich and Helen White and National’s Grant McCallum, showed signs of support, whilst questioning what specific regulations and its enforcement might looked like.

Phillips stressed the importance of the Fired Up Stilettos involvement as experts of their own work and the industry in any future processes to be listened to and consulted with.

Temple said it felt empowering to make a submission. “It feels good to be doing something.”

Change felt overdue, she said. “We deserve rights and safety like everyone else.”

Meanwhile, Phillips said she also felt the pressure to “get it right” – for current and future dancers but also for those in the past to ensure the same mistreatment would not be continued. “I just hope it’s enough.”