Posted on 09/11/2013 4:34:24 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
As she shook her bare backside for the sparse afternoon crowd at Rick’s Cabaret, the dancer introduced as Vanessa appeared to be more committed to her work than the typical clock-puncher. But a federal judge ruled on Tuesday that she and her fellow strippers were hourly workers who deserved at least the minimum wage.
The judge, Paul A. Engelmayer of the Southern District, ruled that the dancers who strip to their G-strings and stilettos every day and night at Rick’s are indeed employees protected by federal and state labor laws. The ruling came in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of current and former dancers at the club that Rick’s opened near the Empire State Building in 2005.
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.nytimes.com ...
But the minimum wage is a job killer....by principle I oppose it.
There’s a strip joint in a nearby city, where the strippers have to pay to work there, they make so much in tips. I believe they call themselves, “independent contractors”.
This will put strip clubs without liquor licenses in real trouble but not because of minimum wage. They rely on stage fees dancers pay from their tips. Employee tips are untouchable. Hard to make it add up without changing a business model to a $50 or $100 cover charge, which sounds unlikely.
As well as by pasties and g-strings!
My first job (pulling trap and skeet) was at State Min Wage, which was lower than the Fed rate. Why? Because a couple of times a year we’d get a tip. Strippers make almost all or almost all their money from tips.
A dedicated shop steward was at a convention in Las Vegas and decided to check out the local brothels. When he got to the first one, he asked the Madame, “Is this a union house?”
“No, I’m sorry, it isn’t,” said the Madame.
“Well, if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?” he asked.
“The house gets $80 and the girl gets $20.”
Mightily offended at such unfair dealings, the man stomped off down the street in search of a more equitable shop. At the second one, he asked the Madame, “Is this a union house?”
“No, I’m sorry, it isn’t,” said the Madame.
“If I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?” he asked again.
“The house gets $80 and the girl gets $20.”
Again offended, the man stomped off down the street in search of a more equitable shop. His search continued until he finally reached a brothel where the Madame said, “Why yes, this is a union house.”
“And if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?” he questioned.
“The girls get $80 and the house gets $20.”
“That’s more like it!” the man said. He looked around the room and pointed to a stunningly attractive redhead. “I’d like her for the night.”
“I’m sure you would, sir,” said the Madame while gesturing to a grotesque woman in her seventies in the corner, “But Ethel here has seniority.”
If the women are making $1,000 dollars a night it sounds like they are cutting their own throats.
That throat is something they need badly in their line of work.
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