This page is referenced by:

• 1 2024-07-23T14:42:47-07:00 Star Garden Union by Borja Schettini 4 plain 2024-10-11T14:12:41-07:00

  
  In my video piece Star Garden Union, I aimed to showcase the course of events that led a group of strippers working the Star Garden club to form a union after months of being subjected to horrible working conditions and no improvement from club management. I was fortunate enough to have one of the strippers, Charlie, retell her story from working in the club, to picketing on the streets, and her current legal battle against the club for bargaining in bad faith. Since strippers are usually not given a platform in the mainstream media to discuss their industry, I thought it would be crucial to tell her story in a raw and intimate manner; allowing the audience to see her face, and connect with her story. Ultimately, Charlie's story is one that could happen to any of us. It is a story of exploitation and silencing, and just one of the many instances where women are being neglected in the workplace, taken advantage of, and expected to follow orders unwaveringly. I hope my piece will not only help my audience further understand the world of sex work as a profession, but also realize the power of speaking up against systems that have been designed to silence and suppress us.

   

   References

  ABC7. “North Hollywood Strippers Launch Another Strike, Protesting Unsafe Working Conditions.” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Dec. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5gBdpA6SM&ab_channel=ABC7. 

  ABC7. “North Hollywood Strippers Return to Work at Only Unionized Club in US.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Aug. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfsYcf5YFhY&ab_channel=ABC7. 

  ABC7. “Strippers to Form Union at North Hollywood Club.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9teKwSBkQxo&ab_channel=ABC7. 

  Britell, Nicholas. “Nicholas Britell - End Credits Suite [Moonlight Soundtrack].” YouTube, YouTube, 5 Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OysSKgWMz6A&ab_channel=SoundtrackTown. 

  FOX 11 Los Angeles. “First Unionized Strip Club Opens in North Hollywood.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Aug. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lK1gfwLNX8&ab_channel=FOX11LosAngeles. 

  FOX 11 Los Angeles. “North Hollywood Strippers Win Fight to Unionize.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfdLj7vFIFA&ab_channel=FOX11LosAngeles. 

  Happiness, Superhuman. “Keeping Up.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 Jan. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY36KJhvSV0&ab_channel=SuperhumanHappiness-Topic. 

  Kaplan, Juliana. “Meet the North Hollywood Strippers Striking for 2 Months to Demand a Safer Workplace: ‘We Don’t Know How to Go Back to Being Exploited.’” Business Insider, Business Insider, 29 May 2022, www.businessinsider.com/meet-star-garden-strippers-organizing-unionizing-for-better-safer-conditions-2022-5. 

  Mishra, Stuti. “Dancers at Topless Bar in Los Angeles Become Only Unionised Strippers in US.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 17 May 2023, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/star-garden-union-los-angeles-bar-dancers-b2340324.html. 

  Mosseri, Emile. “Jacob’s Prayer.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Feb. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw-XR-F6aXw&ab_channel=EmileMosseri-Topic. 

  Rahhal, Emily. “‘Bold and Brave’: Stripper Strike Celebrates Union Effort.” Patch, Patch, 21 Aug. 2022, patch.com/california/hollywood/bold-brave-stripper-strike-celebrates-union-effort. 

  Sarmiento, Isabella Gomez, and Emma Bowman. “Meet the Strippers Working to Unionize a Los Angeles Dive Bar.” NPR, NPR, 12 Sept. 2022, www.npr.org/2022/09/12/1120759940/star-garden-stripper-topless-dancers-union-striking-los-angeles-california. 

  Way, Katie. “Partying on the Picket Line with the Strippers Making Labor History.” VICE, 26 Aug. 2022, www.vice.com/en/article/g5v5vj/strippers-labor-union-history-star-garden-dive-bar-la.