USWNT Reaches Settlement With US Soccer; Equal Pay Not Part Of Deal
The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team reached a settlement Tuesday with the U.S. Soccer Federation to improve work conditions. However, the deal does not include equal pay and the team plans to continue fighting for fair compensation in court.
The settlement improved the USWNT's hotel accommodations, team flights, and venues -- long-standing issues over the preferred treatment received by the men's team. But the women's team is still focused on equal pay and will file an appeal in court.
"We are pleased that the USWNT Players have fought for – and achieved – long-overdue equal working conditions," Molly Levinson, a USWNT spokesperson, said.
"We now intend to file our appeal to the Court's decision which does not account for the central fact in this case that women players have been paid at lesser rates than men who do the same job."
In a lawsuit, the USWNT argued that if the team won all its non-tournament games each player would earn $99,000 ($4,950 per game). However, if the men's national team won all its non-tournament games each player would earn $263,320 ($13,166 per game), ESPN reported.
In addition, from 2013 to 2016, USWNT players earned $15,000 for being selected to the team. However, in 2014 the men earned $55,000 for being selected and in 2018 they earned $68,750.
Tournament earnings also vary drastically. In 2019, FIFA gave $30 million to the USWNT for winning the world cup. But in 2018 the men's tournament winner earned $400 million.
The lawsuit, which claims the USSF is in violation of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is also based on the contrasting success of the two teams. The USWNT just captured its fourth World Cup title while the USMNT's best finish was third place, and that was in 1930.
U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone thinks the team and the Federation can reach an agreement soon.
"I believe our approach helped us reach this agreement and demonstrates the commitment of U.S. Soccer's new leadership to find a new way forward with the USWNT. This settlement is good news for everyone and I believe will serve as a springboard for continued progress," Cone said in a statement.
"As a former USWNT player, I can promise you that I am committed to equality between the USWNT and USMNT. My goal is, and has always been, to come to a resolution on all equal pay matters and inspire a new era of collaboration, partnership, and trust between the USWNT and the Federation.”
In May, a judge dismissed the team's gender compensation argument, because "The WNT was willing to forgo higher bonuses for benefits, such as greater base compensation and the guarantee of a higher number of contracted players," U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner wrote.
"Accordingly, plaintiffs cannot now retroactively deem their CBA (collective bargaining agreement) worse than the MNT (men's national team) CBA by reference to what they would have made had they been paid under the MNT's pay-to-play terms structure when they themselves rejected such a structure," Klausner added.
In court documents reviewed by CBS, the federation argued that the USWNT had less responsibility than the men's national team. In addition, the federation also said that men's soccer requires more skill.
The federation said "the overall soccer-playing ability required to compete at the senior men's national team level is materially influenced by the level of certain physical attributes, such as speed and strength, required for the job," the documents read.
The USWNT has won four Olympic medals and four World Cups. The men's national team has yet to win either.
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