They have nothing to lose but their g-strings.
A group of Chippendales dancers from Las Vegas are attempting to unionize, making it the first all-male revue to start a labor action.
A supermajority of the roughly two dozen beefcakes of the Rio-hotel-based cast voted last week to move to formalize their agreement with Actors’ Equity Association.
“The entire Las Vegas Equity community is thrilled to welcome the Chippendales into our ranks,” Actors’ Equity Association leader Marci Skolnick said in a statement.
The Chipps have gone so far as to file paperwork to hold a union election within the next month, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
Cast member Freddy Godinez was the first of the studmuffins to broach the subject of labor issues facing the troupe.
“The biggest issue that was surprising to me was health benefits, specifically, and sick leave,” Godinez, a second year cast member, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “There are performers there that have been with the show for seven years, one of them has been there 10 years, and there are no benefits offered for the performers.”
“To me, that is kind of a minimum that companies should be able to provide for, especially for their full-time performers,” Godinez added.
The musclemen are seeking health benefits and higher wages but that is not the extent of the issues chapping their cheeks.
Other issues include compensation for image and likeness that are used on countless products such as posters, billboards, cups, calendars, playing cards, magnets, and t-shirts.
Chipps workers say they are also expected to mingle with attendees of the show after the performance but are not compensated for that labor.
The union membership would cover the residency show in the Rio Hotel and both the national and international touring productions.
Any dispute could threaten a Lou Gehrig-esque streak that the Chipps have at the Rio Hotel – baring their buns at the venue for 8,700 shows since opening in 2002.
