Sex Worker Union Organizing An International Study

Sex Worker Union Organising is the first study of the emerging phenomenon of sex workers - prostitutes, exotic dancers such as lap dancers, porn models and actresses, and sex chatline workers - asserting that their economic activites are work and as such, they are entitled to workers' rights. The most developed instances of this struggle, in Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany The Netherlands, New Zealand and the US, have taken the form of unionisation. The book analyses the basis and contexts for this struggle and assesses the opportunities and challenges facing these unionisation projects.

GREGOR GALL is Professor of Industrial Relations and Director of the Centre for Employment Studies at the University of Hertforshire, UK. He is author of books on postal workers and trade unionism in Scotland and editor of two volumes on union recognition.

Introduction * The 'Sex Work' Discourse and Debate * The Political Economy of the Sex Industry * Antecedents of Organising Sex Workers * Sex Worker Union Organising in the United States * Glimpsing the Potential?: The GMB / IUSW in Britain * Sex Worker Organising in Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and New Zealand * Propensities to Organise * Barriers to Organising * Conclusion
Introduction * The 'Sex Work' Discourse and Debate * The Political Economy of the Sex Industry * Antecedents of Organising Sex Workers * Sex Worker Union Organising in the United States * Glimpsing the Potential?: The GMB / IUSW in Britain * Sex Worker Organising in Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and New Zealand * Propensities to Organise * Barriers to Organising * Conclusion