Thoughts on the MTL Stripper Strike

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’m hoping that this article will encourage sex workers to think about their place within the labour movement. This article is an amalgamation of ideas that were born out of conversations I’ve had with sex workers and labour organizer friends.

During the pandemic I became active in sex work labour organizing through a group called SWIM (sex work industrial movement). Our goal was to organize ALL sex workers across North America under one big industrial union. This was of course, a very big and ambitious goal. We focused on sex work unionism, under the umbrella of a freelancers union that also existed at the time, called S’ATTAQ. Many of us were also associated with the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). We envisioned our labour to be similar to that of a hair dresser, a tattoo artist, a bike courier, a long-haul truck driver, etc. When COVID restrictions lifted, many of us returned to work. I was burned out from the project and took a step back. I felt like I needed to read more theory and I got busy with life, alcoholism, and being sad a lot.

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Thoughts on the MTL Stripper Strike