• Dancers at Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in Hollywood, California will vote on unionization.
• Actors Equity Association is a union representing 51,000 actors and stage managers.
• The National Labor Relations Board issued a document setting a vote date for the November 7 election.

Thirty exotic dancers in a topless bar in Hollywood, California will vote on whether to join Actors Equity. A majority “yes” vote would make them the only organized strippers in the U.S.

Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a document setting a vote date.

Unions are increasingly sought by workers across industries and professions for workplace rights and benefits. Unionization attempts are gaining traction at Amazon.com, Apple, Inc., and Starbucks Corp.

If a majority of the estimated 30 strippers choose to unionize, they will join Actors Equity Association, a union representing 51,000 professional actors and stage managers.

According to Velveeta, a dancer at the bar who prefers to go by her stage name to avoid being blacklisted, the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar dancers have been protesting for months for better workplace conditions, including better security and safer stages, as well as higher pay and access to benefits.

The women were unable to return to work following the initial presentation of their petition to the club’s owner.

The owner of the Star Garden Bar could not be reached for comment immediately.

At two September hearings, the bar’s owners contended that they did not satisfy the gross income criteria of $500,000 to fall under the NLRB’s jurisdiction.

The NLRB’s Los Angeles regional director determined that the Star Garden did not meet the board’s standards for live entertainment venues and ordered a mail-in vote election.

On October 14, ballots will be mailed to the dancers, and the ballot count will take place on November 7.

The dancers at Star Garden are hardly the first strippers to seek unionization. According to the Actors Equity Association, Lusty Lady strippers founded the Exotic Dancers Union in 1996 and were affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.

The Lusty Lady ceased operations in 2013.

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