Beyond Decriminalization: Sex-work, Human Rights and a New ...

PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETY• the practice and history of the current collective bargaining relationship; and• the practice and history of collective bargaining in the industry or sector.All of these factors relate to what the Board calls a “community of interest.” There has to be asufficient community of interest for the Board to certify a bargaining unit. Where practical, the Boardprefers large bargaining units rather than small, fragmented groups.The LRC requires that a union be local or provincial in character, and this can include localbranches of national or international unions. To form a new union, a group of employees must establisha constitution and by laws, sign up members and elect officers. When a union applies to be certified,it must be able to satisfy the Board that it meets the criteria for being defined as a union. Moretypically, employees who wish to be unionized will contact, or be contacted by an existing union, andapply to become a chartered local of that union or join an existing local union. As there are no existingsex trade unions in B.C. or Canada, the most likely scenario if the laws pertaining to adult prostitutionwere to be repealed, would be for sex workers to start a new union for the sex trade. However, oneproject participant suggested that sex workers could join an existing service industry union:A. I think that getting backing and going unions would be the service industry. Theservice industry does that . . . And it would probably be local 40.- female street-level sex workerAnother possibility for sex workers to unionize would be to join an existing international sex workunion. Currently, there are sex work unions in several other countries. 120 Although presently noneof these unions are international, at some point they may become so. In Britain, the GMB tradeunion (Britain’s General Union that any worker can join) has union recognition agreements for threelap-dancing clubs. Also, there is a unionized brothel. The London-based International Union ofSex Workers joined the GMB in 2002. In Germany, the Verdi public sector union is recruiting andorganizing sex workers in Dortmund and Hamburg, where it has helped set up a works council inone brothel. In the Netherlands, the long-standing Red Thread sex workers’ rights group has becomepart of the Netherlands Trade Union Federation (the “FNV”), the largest trade union confederationin the Netherlands that is now organizing and representing sex workers. In the U.S., dancers atthe Lusty Lady peepshow in San Francisco gained union recognition in 1996. In Australia, two sexworkers’ rights groups (Workers in the Sex Industry, and the Prostitutes’ Collective of Victoria) joinedthe Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union in 1995. In 2002, the Striptease Artists ofAustralia was formed as a union to represent lap dancers and strippers, while UNITE in New Zealandorganises sex workers and dancers.How might established labour unions in Canada react to sex workers joining their bargainingunits? Some union members may be reluctant to ally themselves with the sex industry. It has beennoted that in other countries – such as Australia, Germany and the Netherlands – the interest ofestablished unions in helping sex workers to unionize reflects their attempts to tackle their ownmembership declines. In the process, they have recognized the de facto employment relationship thatcharacterizes much sex work, and have become much more open to supporting prostitutes’ rightsdiscourse. 121A similar reaction may well occur in Canada given recent statements from the Canadian Unionof Public Employees (CUPE) and the Canadian Labour Congress. Both of these organisations havecommitted themselves to working toward legislative reforms to help end the discrimination expe-120 Gregor Gall, “The Unionisation of Sex Workers,” online: Word Power .121 Ibid.136