Last month, Passional Boutique and Sexploratorium, a Philadelphia sex shop with a reputation for “inclusivity,” laid off its entire staff after they asked the store to recognize their union. Jacobin spoke with one of the workers.


I | n January, Passional Boutique and Sexploratorium, a sex shop on Philadelphia’s South Street with a reputation for LGBTQ inclusivity, laid off its entire staff. The layoffs came just over a month after Passional workers asked store owner Kali Morgan to voluntarily recognize their union.

Morgan has announced that she is planning to sell Passional. Former employees say that she told them that she laid them off because the prospective buyer will only “work with their own family members in the store”; the workers say they think the layoffs were a response to their effort to unionize. Last week, Jacobin contributor Sara Wexler spoke with one of the laid-off workers, Greer Turner, about the organizing effort and the layoffs.

read more: https://jacobin.com/2024/02/sex-shop-workers-union-philadelphia/

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    You can’t claim to support the rights of the lgbt if you don’t support unions. Unions protect workers from discrimination and make sure everyone is paid fairly. You can’t claim to support the lgbt community if you won’t pay people a living wage

  • HopeOfTheGunblade@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    I happen to talk to a bunch of queer people in the area, who have gone from recommending this place to “fuck that place”, so great job whoever actually made this decision. Not every queer person is pro union but I’d bet we run higher than the population average for it.

  • Flyberius [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    9 months ago

    An old school friend of mine (ex-friend) did something like this. After finishing school, going to Uni to do some business degree, he came back to work in his grandfathers camera shop. He was immediately promoted ahead of people who had worked there for decades. Eventually he was given controlling shares of the company. He then decided to move to Thailand with his soon to be wife, so he sold the company, fired all the workers, and fucked off. He now helps run his wife’s cosmetic sweat shop. Nepotism is the fucking worst.

    Edit: This all happened before I was remotely communist, I guess I considered myself a liberal at the time (eww). But it was one of the final nudges to making me realise that liberalism and especially capitalism, was utterly shit.

  • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    There are many sex shops in Philly, especially on South Street. Also, there’s the internet. I honestly can’t understand wanting to draw this much negative attention to your store.

  • vexikron
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    9 months ago

    What? LGTBQ themed things can be anti worker?

    Unpossible!

    Way to girlboss, Ms. Morgan, a true shining example for us all.