House fees and shared tips are causing some strip-club workers to actually lose money. Can liquor licenses and increased oversight help? Read more on the ruling here. One by one, six almost-naked dancers take their turn pole-dancing on the degree stage in the middle of the room at Dream Girls near Lumen Field. During a melancholy three-minute song, they try to entice the six guys scattered around the club to pay for a personal dance either on the half-dark, red-accented ground floor or in a private room on the mezzanine.
Without the tips they could earn during a private-room performance, plus a share of the room rental fee, this cold, drizzly Saturday night of work could end up costing the women more than they earned. After a round of dances on stage, one man opted for a private-room performance. Rebecca Saldana, D-Seattle. Saldana introduced Senate Bill to change that, as well as to upgrade safety measures and guard against unfair terminations of their contracts.
Washington is one of a few states that do not allow liquor to be sold in strip clubs. Oregon allows the sale of liquor, which has led to a thriving exotic-dancing industry in Portland. Alcohol sales are a huge revenue source for the Portland clubs.
The 11 clubs in Washington cannot make money from selling alcohol, so they pile fees on their dancers to make a profit. That means a club does not pay them to dance.
Instead, the dancer pays the club to be allowed to dance in it. In a brief interview, Forbes, nephew of longtime, now-retired Seattle strip-club mogul Roger Forbes, said his clubs charge dancers basic house fees โ and nothing else. Tips that dancers pay to security people, DJs and servers are strictly voluntary, he said. Two interviewed dancers โ Madison Zack-Wu and Lexy, who did not want her last name used โ are point people for a Seattle-based dancers association, Strippers Are Workers, which is pushing for SB Zack-Wu was campaign manager for the effort.
