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More than a year after launching an effort to unionize, dancers at a topless dive bar in Los Angeles are close to becoming the only unionized group of strippers in the U.S.
Lawyers representing the owners of the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar have withdrawn all election challenges and have agreed to recognize the union, organizers said on Tuesday.
The news comes after a 15-month battle between the North Hollywood club and the group of dancers, who are seeking higher compensation and safer workplace conditions, including better security to protect them from belligerent patrons.
The National Labor Relations Board still must certify the union election vote before Star Garden employees can unionize and enter collective bargaining with management. Once certified, which the board is expected to do, the strippers will join the Actors’ Equity Association, a union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers.
A formal vote count is scheduled for Thursday.
“We’re looking forward to having a productive relationship with the club that benefits dancers and also helps the club to thrive,” said Actors’ Equity President Kate Shindle in a statement on Tuesday.
Reagan, a Star Garden dancer who said she’d been fired after voicing her safety concerns with management, said in a statement: “This has been a long, exhausting fight, which is why this victory is so sweet.
