Strip clubs fear pay claim may go too far

PAYING for a lapdance has never been cheap for the average wage-earner. But a new award claim by a strippers' industry group could mean that an hour with a naked lapdancer could set you back $5010 -- more than the day rate for a top silk in court.

The demand for a national award includes claims setting higher by-the-minute rates for strip performances and strict physical working conditions to alleviate occupational health and safety concerns. Proprietors say the claim could drive performers out of the industry or drive it further underground, when the aim was to achieve more uniform regulation. The claim also specifies minimum stage sizes of no less than 4sqm, or 2.5sqm for private dancing. Stages are to be disinfected daily and performers are not to use oils or non-water-soluble products on stage. Maxine Fensom, whose adult empire includes a gentleman's restaurant and a strippers' agency, charges patrons $150 in Victoria and $220 in NSW for a 12-minute full nude strip. Out of that, she pays the performer $100 and $180 respectively and they get to pick and choose their hours. ``It would be fantastic, but guys have trouble affording it now, as it is,'' she said.

Eros Foundation spokeswoman Fiona Patten estimated 90 per cent of strippers would be put out of work if the claim succeeded.

Strippers' union Striptease Artists Australia Incorporated has demanded $110 for a three-minute ``skimpy'' striptease -- where nipples and genitalia remain concealed -- while an artist performing a full striptease for a buck's or hen's night would earn $2010 for 20 minutes' work. The claim breaks the industry into clubs, private shows, lapdancing, tabletop and podium dancing, and competitions and different categories within these divisions based on how much the performers are left wearing.
A topless waitress would earn $1100 an hour under the claim, or close to $6000 for an average five-hour shift.
Stephanie Richards, a topless waitress working at Ms Fensom's Richmond restaurant Maxine's, said she would average about $750 a week for about 20 hours' work. Ms Patten said the Eros Foundation had supported the strippers' union in the past and worked with national secretary Jeanette Schagen to ensure occupational health and safety protections were in place. But the industry was already regulated by entertainment and hospitality awards that allowed for nude performance. ``A code of conduct and some sort of recognition is the way to go,'' she said. ``We have seen similar things happen in the US, where they tried to introduce incredibly inflated awards and the agencies found ways around it and actually deregulated the industry.'' ``(But) certainly the strippers' industry is overdue for some regulatory model.'' A senior deputy president of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission set further hearing dates in December at a hearing in Melbourne yesterday.
Ms Schagen could not be contacted.
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

• Striptease rates range from $110 for a three-minute "skimpy" striptease (not exposing nipples, buttocks or genitalia) to $660 for a 15-minute explicit striptease
• Rates for a double striptease with sex act are $2060 per performer for 20 minutes ($5010 casual rates)
• Tabletop and podium dance rates range from $310 for a three-minute "skimpy" performance to $5100 for a 15-minute explicit performance
• Topless waitresses to receive $510 an hour full time ($1100 an hour casual rate)
• Lapdance performers to be paid $1300 for a 15-minute "skimpy" lapdance, to $2100 for a 15-minute lapdance with full nudity
• All stages to measure no less than 4sq m. Tabletops, podiums and stages for private dancing to be no smaller than 2.5sq m. All stages to be no lower than 50cm from the floor and no less than 2.5m from the ceiling
• Stage floors to be covered in a safe non-slip surface (not carpet)
• Performers not to use oils or non-water-soluble oils on stage
• Dressing room adjacent to stage to be no smaller than 2sq m per performer and fitted with a full-length mirror, one locker per performer, drinking water, appropriate ventilation, air conditioning, an electric fan and wash basin
• Sixty per cent penalty rate on top of normal hourly rates for public holidays Strippers' union demands