What if sex workers had institutional representation that could fight for better working conditions? In early Zeta, a sex worker living in Nova Scotia, was looking for this kind of project: they wanted to get involved with organizing sex workers, like in a union.
Some types of sex work can be very isolating, making it difficult to form a community. I would like to organize my industry and I have no idea how to begin. The IWW is a grassroots global union that differs from traditional trade unions in a few key ways. Rather than dividing workers by skill or trade, the IWW organizes all workers within an industry into one union.
It accepts workers worldwide from workplaces both with and without other unions of their own, often using direct action and community mobilization to pressure bosses. The goal is to empower workers to organize their industry and build worker power from the bottom up, allowing for much more active members and democratic decision-making.
SWIM is a project of the Syndicat associatif des travailleu. Thinking about us as freelancers has been helpful in organizing. Generally speaking, freelancers are not tied to a brick-and-mortar workplace, have no employee benefits, have several employers, and lack income stability due to the nature of their work.
Sex workers often share these conditions โ especially those working online or doing full service. Jesse Dekel was one of these members. In the beginning, members were tasked with finding two people to bring to meetings and invite into the fold of SWIM.
