Wellington strip club Calendar Girls hit the headlines in February when it fired 19 women who had asked for better pay and conditions.
Now, the dancers have met with MPs and are calling for an employment law change.
One of those former workers, Laura, came on Newshub Nation to speak to Rebecca Wright.
She was supported by Jan Logie, the Green Party's spokesperson for women and workplace relations.
Laura spoke in depth about the appalling conditions strippers are often exposed to.
She described the rules across the industry as punitive and usually for "arbitrary, made-up things".
One such fine includes $550 dollars for being rude to a customer or manager.
"Now that's pretty vague, and it can be interpreted any way the person with the power to give the fine likes.
"Part of the power imbalance is the social and political stigma and discrimination that still occurs to strippers and sex workers."
"That provides a barrier to us coming forward and seeking justice," Laura said.
"When we do come forward, we lose.
"That's what we are trying to change."
The money from the fines often goes into a collective pool that the management then splits amongst themselves.
"In some clubs, managers are actively encouraged to fine dancers," Laura told Newshub Nation.
"At best, they are coercive, and at worst, it's just theft."
Laura is amongst a collection of adult entertainment workers looking to enact change.
Dancers in Washington State are making progress in this campaign already.
Some of the rights they are seeking include allowing contractors in the industry to collectively bargain.
Laura said this would allow them to "set an industry standard maximum that the venue is allowed to take from workers and their earnings".
This is particularly important for younger workers, who Laura said "often don't have the tools or understanding to realise that they are being exploited".
Green MP Jan Logie said, "clearly this is exploitation.
"This has been going on for far too long and nobody has been able to organise and communicate what is happening to get the change that is so desperately needed."
While sex work is now legal in New Zealand, there remains a lot of work to do, Logie said.
She said these workers' status' as contractors make things difficult.
"Across the country, we've got an issue where contractors cannot collectively by law.
"They are not allowed to despite really significant power imbalances and asymmetry of information."
This has caused issues for other jobs such as cleaners, transport workers and forestry industry workers, Logie said.
In the adult entertainment industry, these impacts are compounded by social stigma, she said.
Logie said "we need to have a specific legal solution to enable them to organise and to set those standards in place.
"The solution needs to be driven by them."
In her role as an MP, Logie said New Zealand needs to continue this conversation, "hopefully right across the sex industry to work out the legislative solution.
"I really want the minister to recognise this is urgent and really important.
"People are just trying to pay their bills and they shouldn't be made to feel unsafe," Logie said.
Watch the full video for more.
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