Montreal strippers and other sex-industry workers plan a Saturday strike during F1 weekend to demand safer conditions, labour protections and decriminalization.
Montreal strippers and other sex-industry workers are planning to withhold their labour during the city’s Formula 1 weekend, using one of the busiest periods for local clubs to press for safer working conditions, lower workplace costs and a broader push to decriminalize sex work.
The Saturday action is being organized by sex worker Adore Goldman and the Sex Work Autonomous Committee, an advocacy group she co-founded. Goldman told CBC that dancers’ common classification as independent contractors has allowed clubs to avoid obligations she says would normally come with employee status, including stronger responsibility for workplace safety.
“Being recognized as an employee, your employers have to guarantee your safety and ... your mental health at work,” Goldman said. CBC said it agreed to identify her by her professional name because of safety concerns.
The protest is expected to focus in part on “bar fees,” the charges dancers pay clubs in order to work. Goldman said those fees can range from $15 to $100 and may rise during F1 weekend, even though she said clubs often schedule more dancers at the same time, limiting what each worker can earn. Some people in the industry say such fees help cover costs including music rights, locker-room maintenance and electricity.
Goldman and other workers described a system in which dancers pay to work, rely on tips and private dances for income, and face uncertainty over scheduling because they are treated as contractors rather than employees. A Montreal student and filmmaker who strips told CBC she can pay about $60 in bar fees on regular shifts before customary tips to bouncers and DJs, and said she has left shifts owing more than she made. CBC withheld her name because she feared losing work over unionization efforts.
Organizers say the dispute is also about safety. Goldman said dancers are often left to enforce club rules with clients themselves, while the filmmaker said she had not received formal training on how to handle unruly customers and often relies on other dancers for protection.
Montreal police told CBC their presence in nightlife venues is focused on public safety, crime prevention, monitoring for signs of exploitation or trafficking, and ensuring safety for workers and the public. Police said they have received positive feedback from some workers. CBC reported that it made multiple attempts to reach Montreal strip clubs for comment but did not receive responses.
The action is part of a larger effort by Goldman and SWAC to build a union that could include different kinds of sex workers, including erotic massage parlour workers. In Canada, selling sexual services is legal, but purchasers can face prosecution; the legal framework and stigma around sex work remain central to the organizers’ demands.
Not everyone in the industry agrees on the path forward. CBC reported that some online comments raised concerns about pay, flexibility and risks for migrant workers if organizing efforts change how the industry operates. Goldman said those issues could be handled through collective bargaining.
Goldman estimates at least 50 strippers, massage parlour workers and others in the sex industry will take part. After a downtown march, participants plan to distribute flyers outside venues to patrons, passersby and other workers, with the longer-term question being whether Saturday’s action can grow into a formal collective bargaining effort.
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