Since 1991, players from Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy to Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo have won three World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals together. Last year, the women’s team commanded a record TV audience of 25.4 million during the World Cup finaland he generated far more domestic revenue than his male counterpart, who has appeared in just one quarter-final in the past 50 years. and struggles to beat Jamaica. Yet women earned only a fraction on the dollar. When they objected, it must have been a hormonal response.
On Thursday, their employment lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, filed a pay discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Now we will see how much they let their emotions run away with them.
“The USSF literally said when women were asking for pay raises that they were irrational,” Kessler said in a telephone interview. “They left this question aside. These women do not feel respected.
The EEOC’s complaint appears to be a turning point. A story can sit in plain sight for years and no one is very upset about it, but then the right story comes along and it touches a throbbing national nerve. Pay discrimination against such a decorated team, which has given so much joy to the American public and so many iconic figures from Kristine Lilly to Alex Morgan, could be to blame for this. What this team’s chronic struggle for a living wage shows is that gender bias is so ingrained in our culture that the gap cannot be corrected through slow evolution or friendly negotiations. They tried that. It needed a shock to the system – the legal system.
In this country, women earn 78 cents on the dollar compared to men, and it’s worse for women of color: African American women earn 64 cents and Latina women 56 cents. The pay gap persists regardless of race, education level, geography and profession: the median income of a female journalist is 83% of that of her male colleague. The wage gap is one of the most stubborn facts of American life. The Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963 and since then the gap has narrowed by less than half a cent per year. Half a cent. This stubbornnotThis situation was one of the main motivations for the American team to file their complaint. The players are tired of this conversation. They are fed up with this story.
“They are very aware, given their public pulpit, that they really have the ability to change the dialogue, not only in their sport but in other sports and in the workplace in general,” Kessler says. “They would like to see if they can do something and exercise the responsibility that comes with their notoriety.”
There is a long tradition of activism on this issue within the women’s soccer team. They first started fighting him in 1996. That year, the American federation promised the American men a bonus for each match won in the championship. Olympic Games. It told women, featuring Hamm, that they wouldn’t get a bonus unless they won the gold medal.
“We were basically paid about $10 a day,” recalls Foudy, a former team captain. “We were traveling, so we couldn’t have a second job. The equation didn’t work; you couldn’t pay your rent.
When they called for more bonuses to support the cost of living, a federation official told them not to be “greedy.”
“Their argument was, ‘Come on, honey, you should be happy that you can wear an American jersey,'” Foudy said.
In 1999, the women were the beloved World Cup champions, victorious over China in the Rose Bowl in that now-legendary game, and yet they charged the waitress about $15,000. Before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, they had to go on strike to negotiate a raise. When they offered a two-month contract at $18,000, the federation’s counteroffer was $3,150 per month. Less than $800 per week.
“We said, ‘Hey, you signed a $120 million deal with Nike, and we think we had something to do with it,'” Foudy recalled.
They wanted not only better wages for themselves, but also better living conditions, as well as funding and staffing for the young women’s program. They were tired of motels. There were times when the federation didn’t even provide them with transportation: they had to take a Holiday Inn Express shuttle to get to a game.
Eventually, they threatened not to participate in the Olympics. Hamm gave them their influence. She turned to Foudy and said, “You know, my career suits me. If it ends here, I’m happy. And you?” The federation understood that it was serious.
In 2006, they negotiated a contract that paid their resident players a decent annual salary of $70,000. It looked like a fortune.
The USSF’s attitude is that they have done their part to promote women’s soccer over the past 30 years and have increased salaries consistently, and that is absolutely true. The women’s national team are now well paid, by their old standards: Their base salary is $72,000 for a 20-game exhibition roster, and they can earn $75,000 or more in the World Cup and other victory bonuses. There are also provisions regarding maternity leave and childcare.
But what would have happened if they hadn’t demanded it?
Compensation is not an isolated issue. The question is what their salary is compared to men for identical work. And everything you need to know about it can be summed up in one little fact: women still fly in trainers; men travel business class.
The 2015 Women’s World Cup final took place the most watched football match of all time, men or women, on an American network. More Americans watched this game than the NBA Finals. The USSF enjoyed a $20 million increase in revenue in 2015, thanks to the women’s victory and a triumphant tour. Their own budget figures show they expect women to generate more income than men this year too, and again in 2017.
Again Abby Wambach gets paid a fraction for winning gold what Clint Dempsey gets paid for losing in the first round.
It’s the direct comparison that stings. Money is a measure of respect.
“There is no legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for this glaring pay disparity, nor can it be explained by a true seniority, merit or incentive system or by any factor other than gender.” , their EEOC complaint states.
The USSF’s official response to the complaint was that it was “disappointed” with the team. Disappointed.
“It’s like a statement a parent would make to a child,” Kessler said.
Well guess what? Women are disappointed by the federation.
“I think they’re saying, ‘I’m tired of this arguing,'” Foudy said.
To learn more about Sally Jenkins, visit washingtonpost.com/jenkins.
