U.S. Women's Soccer Team Fights For Olympic Gold In Rio, Equal Pay At Home
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- As the U.S. Women's National Team dominated the soccer field during its first day of Olympic competition in Brazil, two U.S. senators renewed calls for the team's right to equal pay at home.
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced Wednesday they sent a letter to the General Counsel of the U.S. Soccer Federation, Lisa Levine, requesting specific information from on pay structure and the pay disparities between the men's and women's national teams.
The announcement came on the same day the women's team played its first game of the 2016 Olympics, finishing with a 2-0 win over New Zealand in Belo Horizonte. The U.S. men's team failed to qualify for the Olympics.
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The soccer federation sued the union representing the women's team members earlier this year, and in June, a federal judge ruled that the players were bound to their collective bargaining contract and wouldn't be allowed to strike prior to the Olympics. Their contract with the federation expires on Dec. 31, 2016 and if a new deal is not struck by then, the players can refuse to play.
Five key members of the women's team fired back at the federation, alleging in a federal equal-pay complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that they were paid substantially less than their counterparts on the U.S. men's national team. A ruling on the complaint is not expected until after the Olympics.
According to the EEOC complaint filed by Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Rebecca Sauerbrunn and Alex Morgan in March, players on the men's team are awarded bonuses for each win ranging from $6,250 to $17,625, while women players are awarded only a $1,350 bonus for every win.
The players maintain that the compensation structure for the women's and men's teams are out of date and don't reflect their huge success and ever-growing popularity. The USWNT is the current and three-time World Cup champion and No. 1 in the world according to the current FIFA rankings. The USMNT is ranked 25th in the world and has never won a World Cup title.
The EEOC complaint states that "a 20-game-winning top tier [Women's National Team] player would earn 38% of the compensation of a similarly situated [Men's National Team] player" and that despite the team's accomplishments they still receive far less compensation than the men's soccer team.
The complaint notes that the success of the women's team means that they end up playing more games, spending more hours training, traveling more and attending more media events than their male counterparts, but are paid less.
Murray, the Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and Feinstein, the Ranking Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote to Levine Wednesday:
"We believe strongly that the gender pay gap is both unacceptable and harmful to women, families, and our economy. We remain focused on the pressing issue of pay equity for the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team…apparent pay disparities such as those between the men's and women's soccer teams send the wrong message to young women—and men—and have no place in the 21st century economy."
In the lead up to the Olympics, the women's team launched a campaign with the hashtag #equalplayequalpay, wearing T-shirts with the slogan and even temporary tattoos urging the federation to close the pay gap between the women's and men's team in their next collective bargaining agreement.
The team is demanding that the U.S. Soccer Federation provide them with pay, playing conditions, and travel arrangements equal to players on the men's national team.
The International Olympic Committee discourages political statements or social commentary by athletes, meaning the campaign will likely be put on hold until after the Olympics.
In the meantime, the U.S. senators are taking up the battle for the female athletes, demanding the USSF disclose how much revenue they have generated from contracts with Soccer United Marketing and other broadcast contracts over the last eight years. The senators are also demanding to know how the federation has worked to promote women's soccer and the women's team, and how they plan to improve exposure of the women's team in the U.S. and internationally.
Feinstein and Murray were among the senators who authored a resolution in May urging the USSF to pay players on the WNT the same as their heavily-compensated male counterparts. The nonbinding resolution passed unanimously.
Earlier this summer, 31 U.S. senators, including Feinstein, Murray and Barbara Boxer, wrote a public letter to USSF President Sunil Gulati urging him to ensure that members of the women's national team are paid the same as men. The senators told Gulati that they were shocked and appalled by the vast gender pay gap that top-tier professional female soccer players in the U.S. are experiencing when compared to their male counterparts.
The senators maintain that the Equal Pay Act requires employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work.
By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter: @hannahalbarazi.
