SWARM stands in full support and solidarity with the booksellers at The Scarlett Letters bookshop, who are currently in an open dispute with their employer following the refusal of their demands for working conditions which should be a given in a radical space, in the form of job security, sick pay, and transparency on the shop’s finances.
Whilst we support the mission of Scarlett Letters, no space which denies workers employment rights can be a safe and productive environment for the sex work community.
Firstly, as a community interest company (CIC), Scarlet Letters is expected to uphold greater financial transparency than a standard business as it ultimately exists for the benefit of the sex work community. Beyond that, as a sex work organization, we know that many people choose to sex work as an alternative to the exploitative conditions of many other industries. We also know that sex workers are exposed to greater precarity because they’re not offered safety nets such as sick pay, parental leave or a baseline amount of income.
Through failing to meet the very reasonable demands of the workers, Scarlet Letters’ management reproduces the same forms of capitalist exploitation that already contribute to many of the worst harms experienced by sex workers. It is the same financial precarity which makes people vulnerable to so many other forms of violence and exploitation.
We hope that Scarlett Letters management reads this message and takes it as an opportunity to repair and rectify these grievances. SWARM wholeheartedly supports the mission of Scarlett Letters – which means we back the workers without equivocation.
We strongly urge you to stand in solidarity with the workers and join us in asking the director to give the workers what they were promised. Everyone involved wants to see the space succeed and thrive – but that means creating a working environment where workers feel seen, heard and respected!
You can support the workers by:
💰 contributing to their hardship fundraiser
✍️ writing to the director using this template
💥 following them on Twitter and Instagram
💌 sharing this statement