Unionizing the Porn Industry?

[Labor Shall Rule]

Vivid Video has recently cut the salary of 12 of it's own stars -- it is also said that they recently layed off hundreds of their 'cylical' employees that offer their sexual services for films, magazines, and photographs; should these models and sex workers be unionized? Should we organize within the adult film industry?

[bolshevik butcher]

Not something I can claim to know a hell of a lot about. However I would say that sex workers are exploited like any other workers, so would benefit from organisation to fight for better pay and conditions like any other worker. Regardless of someones position on the sex industry it is surely better that workers inside it are organised.

[cubist]

i can imagine it now, Prostitues and pornstars alike on picket lines

banners saying

Cant fuck wont fuck


Its not an industry i support anyway, but. Im not against the idea.

The problem is its a very volitile industry and would be hard to unionise, at the end of the day if teh pornstar aint making the money its futile her being in a union. the business is about greed, and man/womans desire fo rthe star. if they stop being popular they get dropped im sure the company didn't drop them on a whim.

i think it would be a very hard thing to do and succesfully represent the women if they went on strike cheaper women would fill there space anyway the business isn't exactly honourable is it

[Labor Shall Rule]

We could appeal to the sex workers by sending organizers into the industry; they can be called the 'cummunists' in order to lure them into our organizations -- it sounds flawless to me. It sounds perfect, just as Joseph Ettor of the Industrial Workers of the World said, "the workers are more powerful with their hands in their pockets than all the property of the capitalists", they would be more powerful with their dicks kept in their pants and their blossoms shoved under their bras than any director, producer, or executive in all of Hollywood.

[Organic Revolution]

Why not? The IWW organized strippers and through there organizing the workers got better wages and more empowerment.

[NewEast]

Likewise, adult workers set up a successful union in Sydney and affiliated it with the Communist Party of Australia. I'm unsure if this is still in place, but it proves it can be done.

There is leftist sentiment within the adult industry from what I hear- I foget her name, but there was a socialist porn star who the Spartacist League actively defended for some time.

[Ismail]

Originally posted by [email protected] 11, 2007 05:19 am
There is leftist sentiment within the adult industry from what I hear- I foget her name, but there was a socialist porn star who the Spartacist League actively defended for some time.
Nina Hartley?

[NewEast]

That's the one :rolleyes:

[redcannon]

why shouldn't they unionize? fuck, everyone should unionize...

i would actually like to see them picketing, i could only imagine what the signs would say

[People's Councillor]

Originally posted by [email protected] 10, 2007 06:46 pm
We could appeal to the sex workers by sending organizers into the industry; they can be called the 'cummunists' in order to lure them into our organizations -- it sounds flawless to me. It sounds perfect, just as Joseph Ettor of the Industrial Workers of the World said, "the workers are more powerful with their hands in their pockets than all the property of the capitalists", they would be more powerful with their dicks kept in their pants and their blossoms shoved under their bras than any director, producer, or executive in all of Hollywood.
love the quote by the way...

[Bilan]

Originally posted by [email protected] 11, 2007 01:32 am
i can imagine it now, Prostitues and pornstars alike on picket lines

banners saying

Cant fuck wont fuck

Well, actually, at the workshop/film night thing I went too, the banner said
"Betty doesn't do it for free"
:P

Sex workers from here in Sydney did a film night trying to publicise their cause. Was interesting.
Forgot the name of their organisation though. I'm not sure if it's a union as such though.

[Dr Mindbender]

I saw sex workers at a anti-war demonstration in London once holding a 'sex worker banner' against the war. There was only about 10 of them but it was quite amusing to see nonetheless. :P

[Honggweilo]

we have a sex-workers and prostitution union in the netherlands! where way ahead of the world :lol:

http://www.rodedraad.nl/

we had picketing prostitutes once. which was awesome. I havent seen it but would have loved to see prostitutes beating up their pimp for picket crossing :lol:

[Red October]

I don't think there's really any good reason not to unionize sex workers, the question is how to do it. But imagine the power the workers would wield if they could deny sex to all the old politicians who cheat on their wives :P

[Forward Union]

i would actually like to see them picketing

"solidarity is stiff"

But in all seriousness, yes they should be unionised. I know there has been some contention between sane people, and the SWP. Who have been accused of pandering to conteporary muslim society, by trying to combat the sex industry entirely and disregarding the working class within it.

[BreadBros]

Originally posted by Ismail+June 11, 2007 05:51 am--> (Ismail @ June 11, 2007 05:51 am)
NewEast
@June 11, 2007 05:19 am
There is leftist sentiment within the adult industry from what I hear- I foget her name, but there was a socialist porn star who the Spartacist League actively defended for some time. Nina Hartley? [/b] Yep, the Sparts led a "Free Nina" campaign after she was arrested on some kind of obscenity offense. She herself is a self-described socialist and feminist and an anti-Zionist Jew. Heres a post from some left-wing blog: http://advant.blogspot.com/2006/10/nina-ha...inist-porn.html (http://advant.blogspot.com/2006/10/nina-hartley-socialist-feminist-porn.html) (NSFW). Interestingly enough, that blog refers to the Sparts as "ultraleftist" :lol:

[NewEast]

The Spartacists are extreme, but you have to hand it to them- they put in the hard yard and do a shitload in people's defence. Next time I'm arrested, I want them on my case. I get letters and emails all the time from them going on about Mumia, the g8 and g20 black blocs arrestees.

Anyway.

In my city, the sex workers have no union but have succeeded in making sound links in the working class. When a local brothel cut the workers' pay, some trade unionists rocked up with a ghetto blaster, sat on the pavement outside and played really loud rock n' roll, scaring all the clients away :D until the employer was forced to submit to the pay demands.

[RedArmyFaction]

Originally posted by bolshevik [email protected] 10, 2007 03:28 pm
Not something I can claim to know a hell of a lot about. However I would say that sex workers are exploited like any other workers, so would benefit from organisation to fight for better pay and conditions like any other worker. Regardless of someones position on the sex industry it is surely better that workers inside it are organised.
Well you could class porn stars as sex workers. Do you know how much they get paid ? They probably get paid more money in making one film then i do working in my current job for a year. I don't really think it's exploitation.
Sex is the most natural thing in the world and i don't think people should see it as a bad thing.

[bolshevik butcher]

Not all sex workers are porn stars and not all porn stars are well paid. Not all actors are well paid but the best paid are very well paid, I would imagine but don't know if its similar in the adult industry.

[Fawkes]

Originally posted by RedArmyFaction+June 23, 2007 09:32 am--> (RedArmyFaction @ June 23, 2007 09:32 am)
bolshevik [email protected] 10, 2007 03:28 pm
Not something I can claim to know a hell of a lot about. However I would say that sex workers are exploited like any other workers, so would benefit from organisation to fight for better pay and conditions like any other worker. Regardless of someones position on the sex industry it is surely better that workers inside it are organised.
Well you could class porn stars as sex workers. Do you know how much they get paid ? They probably get paid more money in making one film then i do working in my current job for a year. I don't really think it's exploitation.
Sex is the most natural thing in the world and i don't think people should see it as a bad thing. [/b]
Only a minority gets paid that high---similar to the non-adult film industry. Also, it most certainly is exploitive---the person is selling their labor power to survive. Making food is natural, is a person working in a kitchen not exploited?

[Genosse Kotze]

Hmm, but then you've got people making amateur porn...fucking scabs!!!!

But hell yeah I support this! There are a lot of scum bag producers who make the actresses do things they didn't necessarily sign up for. Also, with a union they could demand a safer work environment (condom use for example) and time and a half for anal!

[BreadBros]

Originally posted by Genosse [email protected] 26, 2007 05:34 am
Hmm, but then you've got people making amateur porn...fucking scabs!!!!
Really? Or are they actually the implementation of the collective cooperative model of production in the sex industry with free distribution to the public? :ph34r: