PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Several dozen models who pose in the nude for art students have formed a union and are agitating for higher wages and improved benefits.þþThe fledgling Philadelphia Models Guild also wants a place to change other than in the bathroom, a place to hang street clothes and a screen for privacy in the classroom.þþCushioned floor pads wouldn't hurt, either.þþ``By uniting together, we could become regarded more as professionals and not as unskilled people off the street,'' said model Tomas Dura, a flamenco dancer.þþMost professional artists' models in the Philadelphia area -- a group estimated to be in the hundreds -- make between $9.50 and $12 an hour. The models guild wants an hourly wage of $15, with some benefits, said Claire Hankins, one of the leaders of the group.þþThe models say they not only feel underpaid, but unappreciated. Littell said she was once asked to get on the floor of an unswept classroom filthy with charcoal.þþ``A comfortable model produces a comfortable pose, which produces a comfortable artist and a better painting,'' said Jym Paris, an opera singer and actor who has been modeling for 10 years.þ þþ þ
Source: NY Times
