A sex shop with three New York City locations has voted to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, making it the only unionized adult sex shop, the group said Monday.
The New York employees of Babeland, which sells sex toys and accessories, voted Friday to unionize, saying they hoped it would increase transparency and support for airing grievances and handling harassment at work, the New York Times reported. Employees also said they wanted to see the store resolve issues that exist for employees who identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming, including the way their names appear in the store’s computer system.
The store’s original location is in Seattle, which was not part of Friday’s vote to unionize. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is one of the largest retail unions in the country.
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