The IWW is an industrial union for all workers. We organize workers to win better conditions today and build a world with economic democracy tomorrow.
We do not judge or exclude workers on moralistic grounds: We know that not everybody likes or wants to do the same type of work, and we also know that not everybody has the privilege of being able to choose doing the type of work they would really like to do.

Our only criteria for who can join our union is a practical concern: We do not include those whose profession means that they might be ordered to prevent other workers from organizing or from striking and using the other tools necessary to achieve our goals - i.e. police officers and other agents of the state who might be called upon to break picket lines or infiltrate and spy upon independent worker organizations, as well as bosses and managers who have the power to fire and punish workers when they organize and demand better conditions.

Other than that, we do not exclude any workers who agree with our goals. That includes sex workers.By ”sex workers” we mean all workers who use sexuality as the primary tool of their trade. This can include dancers, actors and models, telephone sex workers, webcammers, as well as indoor and outdoor full service workers.

The IWW believe that all workers within the same industry should be organized together, which in the sex industry might include chauffeurs, secretaries, security personnel, etc. as well as those we mentioned above. Again: We do not include bosses or agents of the boss class able to hire or fire, or possessing equivalent coercive or punitive power over the workers.

As a revolutionary workers union our primary opposition is with the the employing class. The working class and the employing class have nothing in common and there can be no justice so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people, while the few who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.

It is not for us to pass moral judgement on a fellow worker who is trying to make a living in an economic system that lacks all morality. That task we leave to the preachers and the politicians. Many of these ”moral preachers” believe that sex work should be abolished. We believe that all wage labor should be abolished – indeed, our goal is the abolition of the entire wage system!

But we do not judge individual workers for being wage labourers. Neither do we want to punish them for selling their labour in a system that leaves few of us with other options. Instead we organize to gain control of our work places and conditions.

As a revolutionary workers union we also realize that the state and its institutions of repression often work in opposition to our immediate and long-term goals. The political class and the ownership class are usually allied (when not indistinguishable) and the interest of the state is to preserve economic stability as well as "law and order".

For that purpose it aims to restrict the organizing attempts of the workers and prevent strikes and other tools in their struggle. Sometimes it uses violent repression and sometimes it collaborates with the leaders of the established business unions who agree to preserve the "peace" by controlling their members.

In our aims to gain control of our working life and improve our working conditions we also need to oppose the laws of the state that prevent us from doing so. This is especially relevant for sex workers.

Virtually all nations have laws that severely restrict the freedom of sex workers to organize. Sometimes their entire profession is subject to criminalization.
It does not matter much whether the state has decided to formally prosecute those who purchase or those who sell sexual services: The result is that the workers are subject to police harassment, legal penalties, homelessness and/or loss of child custody, as well as being prevented from speaking out in public and organizing effectively.
In the worst cases sex workers are forced "underground" to rely on the "protection" of criminal and sometimes violent networks.

We believe that all workers have the right to unionize, to stand together, and to take action to improve their working conditions. Laws that make parts of our work illegal, laws that prevent us from speaking out, laws that restrict our ability to organize and help each other, are in opposition to this right.

Sex workers deal with all these repressive laws. This makes their working condition more dangerous and their social conditions insecure. Sex workers' rights are workers' rights!

It is not our task to change the laws, but it is our mission to organize workers regardless of what the law says.

IWW Iceland is open to all workers. This includes those in professions not recognized by the state or the established labor system (which, in Iceland includes sex workers). We already organize and fight for workers who do not get help or representation from the established state-supported unions, such as those in the highly exploitative and insecure tourist industry, migrant and seasonal workers, etc.

But regardless whether sex workers join us or would rather form their own organizations, we are willing to listen, to help, and to build alliances, with all who share our fundamental belief that workplaces should be run for the benefit of workers and communities rather than for a handful of bosses and executives.

We hope to see you next Saturday.
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