Raven Deverux Social Science
Labor Organization within the Stripping Industry
Research suggests collective bargaining improves the unionized worker’s wages and working conditions, in addition to those of non-union status in the same field. Despite the organizing successes of San Francisco’s Lusty Lady, neither working conditions nor take home earnings for Bay Area strippers improved overall. How do these particular workers secure a better working environment and basic labor rights? This ethnographic study will utilize mixed-methods to analyze possibilities for collective action within this industry. Utilizing a comparative analysis of two cases labor organization, Raven will travel to New York to study current organization efforts and conduct an historical analysis of the successes of efforts at the Lusty Lady in San Francisco. This research intends to provide insight into the possibilities for collective organization within the ever-growing body of contract workers.
