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Oh, you are funny!!
It's a long explanation, but in the industry at the moment, it's actually better all around that we are not organized. It's a shame, because on paper it would seem to be beneficial to us, but in reality, the owners would make life a living hell for us. Of course if enough people were to get involved, they would not be able to fire/make miserable ALL of us, but therein lies the catch-22: getting enough people to be brave enough to take that risk. It would be a very long and hard fight, with probably years of not making money because of no-one wanting to hire a vocal union organizer, so most people don't want to bother..too busy making a living.
If one is sick, or hurts oneself at work (on five, six, or seven inch heels on various surfaces, dry and wet, tabletops and such) one just deals with it as best one can. There are lots of clubs that do act like families, and oftentimes the managers and employees will band together to benefit those of us in need (when my dj fiance died in a motorcycle wreck, they had me compete in a local competition and threw me $1000 onstage! - two clubs of people got together as one and did this for me, bless their hearts); but usually it is just deal as you can.
What really sucks is that there is no protection from abuse in the workplace by managers, owners, bouncers/floormen, djs and the like. Not that there is a ton in other workplaces, but of course we are seen as not deserving of rights because of what we do, so no beans are made about it at all. Many a girl has been fired because a manager was fucking another girl who was jealous of her, or because she wouldn't sleep with the manager, or owner, or bouncer(s); or dj, or...on and on. Again, not that this is so very different from the nine-to-five world, but I have also heard lots of horror stories about managers terrorizing girls; stealing their money, attempting to pimp them out, blackmailing them; setting near-impossible conditions for them to return/stay at work - I could go on and on. It is a microcosm of the problems we could have/do have with lack of labor support in the wider world, but it is just SO much worse in our world!
This life is one in which you have to shrewdly judge the place you are in, balanced by your ability to make money, i.e. your looks, your personality, and your skill at the hustle & jive. There are selling techniques that one either learns or picks up through observation. Luck is your best ally, as well as a good judge of character OR just being so simple that you kinda 'float' through it.
I learned a long time ago to keep my mouth shut and be observant. It's done me a world of good, and at the moment there is not a club in the Carolinas that I could not work at...just a bunch I choose not to. But I also studiously avoided the drug and alcohol pitfalls (just barely on that last one!)
I am a member of an industry board. You wouldn't believe the stories...of course.
Sorry so long and involved. Sure, there should be rights and some protections/advantages of being an independent contractor, and some also in being an employee (not as favored by both owners and entertainers alike,it's much more of a pain in the ass); but so very often the terms of the contract on signs with the company are not honored. The only thing that makes it worth it is the money and the indescribable part - the one where you are at once all-powerful, and also a part of something much bigger than yourself (whole other post there). Once you do this for a living and have any sort of fun at it, you are addicted. For life.
Not that you really wanted to know all this... ;)
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