In the times that I’ve stayed and worked a 17 hour day to complete a project or task, the reward for being successful is to be given more work. It really shouldn’t be set up this way, though. You can never get to the end of the work, so at a certain point, I meet my threshold and give up.
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we're doing it anyway
So when is the last time you heard about sex workers organizing for their rights and winning? If your answer is "it's been a while" or "never"... that's because it doesn't happen very often.
Read Moredancers won!
Today, dancers from strip clubs who have been organizing with Working WA’s Strippers Are Workers campaign made the trip down to Olympia to be there as something pretty incredible happened: a bill they helped build from the ground up was signed into law. This is a big deal — it’s probably the first time in WA history that a law affecting dancers was actually spearheaded by dancers. Read on to hear Kiki, a dancer at a strip club in Seattle who’s been a leader on the Strippers Are Workers campaign, tell the story of how it all happened.
Read MoreTODAY: Governor to sign dancer safety & security bill into law
This bill signing might very well be a first in Washington state legislative history — the first law affecting people who work at strip clubs that was actually initiated by people who work at strip clubs. Dancers at strip clubs have organized with Working Washington to drive the development of this bill with sponsors Rep. Tina Orwall (D - Des Moines) and Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D - Seattle).
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"Businesses are more than aware of their ability to take advantage of salaried employees below the overtime threshold"
Employers should either have to pay their employees a fair living wage in exchange for the option to expect that employee to output as much work as two employees, or give more hours to current employees or hire additional employees.
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"Being forced to work that many hours without additional compensation is ridiculous."
If employers had to pay time-and-a-half for any hours worked over 40 hours it would make it so that the lack of a social life or even time to relax on the weeks that you had to work 6/7 days with 60+hours was slightly worth it.
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"I have worked in an adult family home, putting in 70 hours in 1 week, and was paid straight pay."
I regularly put in between 45-60 hours a week and still make as much as I would had I only worked 40 hours, but the overtime is necessary to keep the business functional and compliant.
Read More"employers are always interested in you being flexible for them… but not particularly interested when it's time for them to be flexible for you"
To add insult to injury, jobs that often pay less than a living wage are also the jobs where you are expected to work additional hours as a salaried employee. I once had a job where I was making $8/hr (which required a college degree, by the way). However, I usually worked 50-60 hours each week, and was never paid overtime.
Read More"Many people in business are classified as exempt from overtime, but should be getting paid for overtime"
“I have over thirty years experience in human resources as a business owner, consultant, and an employee. As an employee, I often worked well beyond the hours for which I was officially paid. In some cases, I worked in a position that was misclassified as “exempt.” Unfortunately, many people in business are classified as exempt from overtime, but should be getting paid for overtime.”
Read MoreSTRIPPER SAFETY AND SECURITY BILL passes washington state house 95-3
It might very well be a first in Washington state legislative history — a bill affecting people who work at strip clubs that was actually initiated by people who work at strip clubs. Now that bill, HB 1756, has advanced to to the floor of the State House.
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