2026年2月13日 / 美国东部时间凌晨5:09 / CBS/美联社
内华达州帕伦普 — 内华达州是美国唯一允许合法购买性服务的州，而该州一家历史最悠久的妓院中的性工作者正力争成为美国首个成立工会的群体。
“我们想要和其他任何劳动者一样的东西。我们想要一个安全且受尊重的工作场所，”内华达州帕伦普市谢里牧场（Sheri’s Ranch）的一名性工作者表示，她使用艺名“朱庇特·朱特森”（Jupiter Jetson），并因担心受到骚扰而要求不使用其真实姓名。
内华达州10个农村县的持牌妓院允许合法卖淫，但拉斯维加斯所在的克拉克县除外，不过谢里牧场距离拉斯维加斯约一小时车程。
该妓院共有74名性工作者，其中大多数人上周以“联合妓院工人”（United Brothel Workers）的名义，由美国通信工人工会（Communications Workers of America）代表，向国家劳动关系委员会提交了工会化请愿书。
朱庇特·朱特森（左）和莫莉·怀尔德（右）两位性工作者于2026年2月12日在内华达州帕伦普市谢里牧场外合影。伊恩·莫尔 / 美联社
朱特森表示，促成这次行动的导火索是去年12月出台的新独立承包商协议，该协议赋予妓院未经许可使用她们肖像权的权力，即便她们已离职也不例外。
“这就是你在从未签署任何文件的情况下，成为一家日本润滑油公司代言人的方式，”朱特森说，“这就是你在从未拿到一分钱的情况下，发现自己出现在提供人工智能陪伴服务的网站上的方式。”
性工作及从业者的就业权利在全球范围内仍是一个颇具禁忌色彩的话题。卖淫仅在少数国家合法，包括德国，而相关工会化努力各不相同。2018年西班牙虽未规范卖淫行业，但政府批准成立了性工作者工会，不过法院很快宣布该工会非法，称其使剥削性工作者的行为合法化。
“所有劳动者都应享有某些基本人权和尊严，组织工会的权利就是其中之一，”内华达州美国通信工人工会主席马克·埃利斯（Marc Ellis）表示。
谢里牧场营销与传播总监杰里米·勒默（Jeremy Lemur）在电子邮件中表示，该妓院尊重工人“就工作结构表达观点的权利”，并将业务重点放在提供“安全、合法且专业管理的环境”上。
工会律师称，这一过程可能持续数周，但妓院可选择立即承认美国通信工人工会为性工作者代表，并开始协商新合同。
自称“名媛”（courtesans）的谢里牧场性工作者在去年12月收到了一份新合同，其中赋予妓院对其知识产权和授权委托书的控制权。美联社获得的合同显示，妓院将拥有“不可撤销、全球范围、永久、免版税、非独占的许可权”，用于分发她们的资料。
另一位性工作者莫莉·怀尔德（Molly Wylder）表示，这些条款将使“名媛”们更难离开该行业去追求其他机会。对怀尔德而言，性工作只是临时工作，用于偿还学生贷款。和朱特森一样，她也要求不使用真实姓名。
“我从未计划永远从事这个行业，”怀尔德说。
朱特森称，当她们向管理层表达担忧时，对方要求她们要么签字要么离职。她表示，工人们请求更多时间考虑，而部分人是在胁迫下签署了协议。目前纠纷仍在持续，勒默未回应关于工人们担忧的提问。
朱特森透露，妓院得知她们的工会化努力后，解雇了她和另外两名工人，美国通信工人工会正为她们争取复职。勒默未回应关于朱特森就业情况的提问。
内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校退休教授、内华达州性产业专家巴巴拉·布伦茨（Barb Brents）表示，性工作者通常被归类为独立承包商，而独立承包商相比雇员能获得的法律保护更少，但自由度更高。她们能否成功组建工会，取决于她们是否被视为独立承包商还是雇员。
勒默称，独立承包商身份是性工作者自主权的核心。
但这些女性认为自己实际是雇员：她们有固定的工作时间、不能居家工作，且必须向客户收取每小时至少1000美元的费用，而谢里牧场会抽取她们收入的50%。
“在我们的理想愿景中，我们希望被认定为雇员，这样就能享有雇员的全部权利和谈判权，”朱特森说。
由于许多女性自行制作线上内容，她们希望保护自己的知识产权，同时希望协商更公平的工资合同，并调整最近被要求只能穿牛仔短裤而非长裤的着装规定。怀尔德还希望争取医疗保险，而目前她们并未获得。
性行业的其他从业者已有成功案例：2024年3月，华盛顿州通过了“脱衣舞娘权利法案”，该法案被倡导者称为美国最全面的全州性成年舞者保护法规；洛杉矶的Star Garden脱衣舞俱乐部舞者成为美国唯一一支工会化的脱衣舞团体；旧金山的“好色女郎”（The Lusty Lady）脱衣舞俱乐部在1997年就实现了工会化，尽管如今已关闭。
布伦茨表示，谢里牧场“名媛”们的努力在这个长期被污名化且从业者历史上倾向于隐忍的行业中意义重大。
“看到这么多性工作者站出来争取自身权益，这非常令人振奋，”她说。
Sex workers in Nevada fighting to become first in U.S. to unionize
February 13, 2026 / 5:09 AM EST / CBS/AP
Pahrump, Nev. — Nevada is the only state where people can legally purchase sex, and now sex workers at one of the state’s oldest brothels are fighting to become the nation’s first to be unionized.
“We want the same things that any other worker wants. We want a safe and respectful workplace,” said a worker at Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, who goes by the stage name Jupiter Jetson and asked that her legal name not be used for fear of harassment.
Prostitution is legal at licensed brothels in 10 of Nevada’s rural counties. That doesn’t include Clark County, home to Las Vegas, though Sheri’s Ranch is about an hour’s drive away.
The majority of the brothel’s 74 sex workers submitted a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board last week under the name United Brothel Workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America.
Sex workers, who go by the names Jupiter Jetson, right, and Molly Wylder, pose for a photo in front of Sheri’s Ranch, a brothel In Pahrump, Nev. on Feb. 12, 2026. Ian Maule / AP
Jetson said the drive was spurred by a new independent contractor agreement issued in December that would give the brothel power to use the women’s likeness without permission, even if they no longer work there.
“This is how you end up the face of a Japanese lubricant company without ever having signed a document,” Jetson said. “This is how you end up finding yourself on a website offering AI companionship without ever seeing a penny.”
Sex work, and the employment rights of the those who do it, remains a largely taboo topic worldwide. Prostitution is only legal in a handful of countries, including Germany, and organizing efforts vary. In Spain, where prostitution is unregulated, the government approved a union for sex workers in 2018 but a court quickly outlawed it, saying it made the exploitation of prostitutes legal.
“All workers are guaranteed certain human decencies and dignities, and the right to organize is one of those,” said Marc Ellis, state president of the Nevada Communications Workers of America.
Sheri’s Ranch respects the right of workers to “express their views on workplace structure,” Jeremy Lemur, the brothel’s marketing and communications director, said in an email. The business’s focus is on providing a “safe, lawful and professionally managed environment.”
The process could go back and forth for weeks, but the brothel could choose to recognize the Communications Workers of America as the sex workers’ representatives and begin negotiating a new contract immediately, according to union attorneys.
The workers at Sheri’s Ranch, who call themselves courtesans, were given a new contract in December that would give the brothel control over their intellectual property and power of attorney. The contract, viewed by The Associated Press, said the brothel will have the “irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive license” to distribute the women’s material.
Another worker, who goes by the stage name Molly Wylder, said the terms would make it harder for courtesans to leave the industry and pursue other opportunities. For Wylder, sex work is a temporary job to help pay for her student loans. Like Jetson, she asked that her legal name not be used.
“It was never my plan to stay forever,” Wylder said.
When the women brought their concerns to management, they were told to sign or leave, they said. The women requested more time to decide, while some signed under duress, Jetson said. The dispute remains ongoing. Lemur did not respond to questions about the women’s concerns.
Jetson said she and two others were fired after the brothel learned about the unionization effort. The Communications Workers of America is fighting for them to be rehired. Lemur didn’t respond to questions about Jetson’s employment.
Sex workers are typically classified as independent contractors, said Barb Brents, an expert in Nevada’s sex industry and retired professor at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Independent contractors don’t get as many legal protections as employees, but they usually get more freedoms. The success of their unionization could come down to a debate between whether they are considered independent contractors or employees.
The independent contractor status is fundamental to the workers’ autonomy, said Lemur.
But the women argue they are treated as employees. They have set schedules, they can’t work from home and they are required to charge a minimum of $1,000 per hour to their clients, Ellis said. Sheri’s Ranch gets 50% of what they earn.
“In our dream scenario, we would like to be recognized as employees because we would like the full rights and bargaining power that employees have,” Jetson said.
With many of the women making their own online content, they want their intellectual property protected. They also said they want to negotiate over their dress code – they were recently told they can only wear denim shorts, not pants – and they’d like to see a fairer wage contract.
Wylder said she’d also like to negotiate for health insurance, with which they’re not provided.
Other workers in the sex industry have seen success. In Los Angeles, dancers at the topless bar Star Garden became the only unionized group of strippers in the U.S. The Lusty Lady, a San Francisco strip club, was pioneering when its workers unionized in 1997, though it’s now closed.
Legislation in Washington state known as the “Strippers’ Bill of Rights,” which advocates said included the most comprehensive statewide protections in the nation for adult dancers, was signed into law by then-Gov. Jay Inslee in March 2024.
Brents said the Sheri Ranch courtesans’ effort is significant in a stigmatized industry in which its workers historically lay low and stay quiet.
“It’s pretty amazing and heartening to see so many sex workers standing up for their rights,” she said.