Yesterday
@Waifu4lyfe brought up a change that is set to hit Nevada harder. With sex workers being silenced all over the internet as well as being taken advantage of by online platforms, legal prostitution is also taking a hit, as weird as that sounds. As we speak, legal courtesans are unionizing after a brothel is forcing them to sign a new contract that essentially would be signing their lives away. With all that's been happening in the brothel scene in Nevada the last couple of years, a union was bound to happen, and at the forefront of that union is adult performer
Jupiter Jenson.
All of this started after Sheri's Ranch wanted their girls to sign a new contract back in December. In said contract, and as The Nevada Independent reported, the new contract would give Sheri's perpetual control over workers' intellectual property rights and power of attorney. Which, for the average person (like myself), means whatever they do within the walls of the brothel will belong to the brothel, as well as their likeness. It's not hard to figure out what this all means from anyone's perspective living in the time we are in now. Being SWers, it only makes sense to prevail in every part of your career like any other job. You're going to get in where you fit in and capitalize on your talent, so of course some of these women have online platforms.
Then there's the power of attorney. With this, the brothel would be able to basically do whatever they would like if the women were unable to make any decisions on their own. This goes for medical or financial decisions, which is pretty damn strange. To give anyone that power other than people you are close with doesn't make any sense. For Sheri's to ask this makes even less sense.
With all of this in the one contract, Jupiter, among others, decided to take action. With these women uniting with the Communications Workers of America, they decided to unionize. So far, there are 74 legal courtesans who are unhappy with what Sheri's is doing, and it looks as if they're ready to take it all the way. The law is already in their favor, as the women have already been legally classified as independent contractors, which means as independent contractors they are allowed personal control over how they work.
Sheri's hasn't been sitting down doing nothing as all this is happening. With women taking a stand together to fight back, Sheri's has supposedly been giving them ultimatums: either they sign the contract or they lose their jobs. Just for reference, that's fucked up.
The odds are against these women. There have only been two SWer unions that have worked out in the past, and it really wasn't easy for those women to unionize. There are a number of reasons why what Sheri's is doing is wrong. With the amount of things these women already have to give up and pay for being at the ranch for long periods of time, you would think that's enough. I don't know what Sheri's Ranch is thinking about with these contracts, but I hope these women are able to unionize and others follow in their footsteps.
If you're trying to support these women, they have a website you can visit
here. You can sign the position as well as show support in your own way.
Here's the official article by
The Nevada Independent.
