The Prostitutes' Union

I love this article from The Scientific American, which reports on an alternative form of collective bargaining: the negotiation of condoms by sex workers in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. In their case, solidarity is not channeled toward winning wages increases or better benefits, it is focused on supporting the use of condoms. According to the article, other HIV-prevention efforts, like education of sex workers, counseling, or condom distrbution don't work because "if a prostitute insisted on condom use, her customer just went to someone else."

The founder of the collective states, "Counseling, educating--it just doesn't work...Higher up in the social hierarchy, people are able to act on the information given to them. Not so in the lower levels." Basically, educate all you want, but if people don't have power to advocate for themselves, then nothing is going to change.

I think this "prostitutes' union" is inspiring because it highlights really innovative thinking about workers' rights, and shows an example of how unions can further the public good: by slowing HIV infection rates. Go worker power!