MONTREAL — Sex workers in Montreal are calling for a general strike during Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
A group of Montreal-based sex workers — the Sex Work Autonomous Committee — says their demands include an end to the nightly fees that dancers have to pay to work in clubs.
They also want to be considered employees of their workplaces instead of self-employed workers, a status in Quebec that offers fewer labour rights and protections.
The committee says that by going on strike May 23 during one of the biggest tourist weekends in Montreal, they will be able to exert maximum pressure on club owners.
A Montreal dancer who goes by the name Kit says she is going on strike to call attention to the fact she and her colleagues, as self-employers workers, are not covered by Quebec workplace safety regulations.
She says her job comes with occupational hazards because she performs in eight-inch heels on uneven floors.
Kit, who is a member of the Sex Work Autonomous Committee, says people who sell sexual services are going on strike to call attention to the fact the federal government hasn’t fully decriminalized sex work.
Grand Prix weekend begins May 22 with race day May 24.
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