When Montreal’s Formula 1 weekend kicks off later this month, the city’s exotic dancers won’t be in pole position.
Strippers in the Canadian city are planning to strike ahead of F1’s Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday, May 23 — one of the busiest weekends of the year — in a bid to become salaried employees subject to the same protections as other workers in the country, per The Montreal Gazette.
Many dancers in Quebec are not paid a salary and are often required to pay an out-of-pocket “bar service fee,” forcing them to rely on tips to earn a living.
“It happens to every worker every year that we’ll go home and find ourselves in the red,” Celeste Ivy, a Montreal-based stripper, told the outlet, noting that her cover charge ranges from $40 to $100.
“Since we’re not salaried employees, we don’t have access to the protections that other workers usually have.”
Ivy, who is part of Comité autonome du travail du sexe (CATS), the group organizing the walkout, also complained of unsafe working conditions and lack of benefits such as sick leave, since strippers are designated as self-employed.
She also said dancers endure sexual harassment during shifts and are not offered support after sustaining injuries during performances.
“This is the first time that we’re being vocal about our concerns. We want to be heard. We want our work to be recognized as work.”
Former stripper Francine Tremblay, who said she received an hourly wage before leaving the industry in 1988, said the initiative would resonate because that’s “when the bars make their money.”
The event is an annual financial boon, with a 2016 Forbes report estimating $50 million-$90 million generated in tourism and entertainment revenue.
Another report examining F1’s logistical and urban impact on Montreal estimated that hotels and restaurants generate tens of millions of dollars during the weekend, noting that “restaurants and bars sell out for lunch and dinner on Friday [and] Saturday.”
“If they decide to walk out, the bosses will freak out,” Tremblay said.
The Canadian GP begins on Friday, May 22, and concludes on Sunday, May 24, at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal.
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