b"For the 141st episode of Private Parts Unknown, host Courtney Kocak welcomes Velveeta, a Star Garden stripper and organizer, to explain how their 15-month fight for union recognition ended in victory in May. This was the most popular episode of 2023.\\nThe spark that ignited the unionization campaign was lit in March of 2022 when the club\\u2019s security guards repeatedly failed to protect dancers from threatening and abusive behavior from patrons. Dancers were illegally fired for bringing concerns about safety and security to management. With the assistance of Strippers United, a 501(c)3 organization led by strippers that advocates for strippers\\u2019 rights, Star Garden\\u2019s strippers began picketing outside the strip club to protest unsafe working conditions. Picketing continued every week through November outside the club\\u2019s location on Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood, California.\\nLast August, the dancers announced they had affiliated with Equity. Shortly afterward, the national union filed for an election with the NLRB on behalf of the dancers. In the fall, the labor board conducted an election by mail. A vote count was scheduled for November, but the results were put on hold by the NLRB due to employer objections and legal filings. On Monday, May 15th, lawyers representing the owners of the Star Garden withdrew all election challenges, agreed to recognize the union and meet with the Actors\\u2019 Equity Association across the bargaining table within 30 days to negotiate a first contract. The club reopened for business as a union club in August.\\nStar Garden\\u2019s dancers are not the first strippers to seek union recognition. Strippers at San Francisco\\u2019s Lusty Lady organized the Exotic Dancers Union in 1997. They were affiliated with the Service Employees International Union. The Lusty Lady closed in 2013.\\nFor more from today's guest:\\n\\nFor more about Stripper Strike Noho! and how you can support the cause linktr.ee/stripperstrikenoho\\n\\n\\nFollow the Star Garden dancers on Instagram @equitystrippersnoho\\n\\n\\nFollow Strippers United on Instagram @strippersunite\\n\\n\\n\\nPsst, Courtney has an 0nIyFan$, which is a horny way to support the show: https://linktr.ee/cocopeepshow\\nPrivate Parts Unknown is a proud member of the Pleasure Podcast network. This episode is brought to you by:\\n\\nFlure is a dating app where fun, wild, and safe collide.\\xa0Download the Flure app, set your relationship goals \\u2014 whether it's a long-term thing or a\\xa0rendezvous with a hot stud \\u2014 be real, be shamelessly you, and I\\xa0promise, you'll have a blast! flure.com\\n\\n\\nExplore yourself and say yes to self-pleasure with Lovehoney. Save 15% off your next favorite toy from Lovehoney when you go to ppupod.com, click Lovehoney, and enter code Private at checkout.\\n\\nFleshlight is the #1 selling male sex toy in the world. Fleshlight is offering Private Parts Unknown listeners 10% off with code PRIVATE10. Go to ppupod.com, click Fleshlight, and enter code PRIVATE10 at checkout.\\n\\nhttps://linktr.ee/PrivatePartsUnknownAds\\n\\n\\nIf you love this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and sexy review!\\xa0\\u2014>\\xa0ratethispodcast.com/private\\xa0\\nPsst... sign up for our Private Parts Unknown newsletter for bonus content related to our episodes!\\xa0privatepartsunknown.substack.com\\nLet\\u2019s be friends on social media!\\xa0Follow the show on Instagram\\xa0@privatepartsunknown\\xa0and Twitter\\xa0@privatepartsun. Connect with host Courtney Kocak\\xa0@courtneykocak\\xa0on Instagram and Twitter.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"