Women in the United States continue to fight for equal pay their male counterparts in the work force tend to receive. If you think that fight contains itself to the corporate world, think again. It’s an ongoing issue in sports as well, and the United States women’s national soccer team is getting fed up with it and threatening to boycott the Olympics if there is no resolution.
“It would still be on the table,” USWNT co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn said in an ESPNW interview published Sunday when asked about the possibility of a boycott of the summer games. “We are reserving every right to do so. We’re leaving every avenue open. If nothing has changed, we don’t feel real progress has been made, then it’s a conversation we’re going to have.”
The U.S. women’s team filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last month in hopes of avoiding a potential boycott. As time drags on though, if there is no indication their complaint is being handled appropriately, the threat of a boycott of the summer Olympics grows. That would be significant for the Olympics, as the U.S. women have captured the gold in each of the last three summer Olympics and four of the five summer games to feature women’s soccer since 1996 (the U.S. won silver in 2000, losing to Norway).
The complaints focus on the distinct difference in how much the women are paid compared to the men, when it is the women who have been wildly more successful in their sport than the American men. The question is how much revenue is being generated that can be shared, and can it be done equally, or at least more fairly?
Carli Lloyd outlined some of the financial details in a column for the New York Times;
If I were a male soccer player who won a World Cup for the United States, my bonus would be $390,000. Because I am a female soccer player, the bonus I got for our World Cup victory last summer was $75,000.
The men get almost $69,000 for making a World Cup roster. As women, we get $15,000 for making the World Cup team.
…
I was on the road for about 260 days last year. When I am traveling internationally, I get $60 a day for expenses. Michael Bradley gets $75. Maybe they figure that women are smaller and thus eat less.
When Hope Solo or Alex Morgan, say, makes a sponsor appearance for U.S. Soccer, she gets $3,000. When Geoff Cameron or Jermaine Jones makes the same sort of appearance, he gets $3,750.
The hope is obviously that some progress can be made to avoid any form of stoppage in play by the United States women. They have threatened a boycott in the past but have backed off of those threats due to a lack of team unity on the issue. But if this team is as united as it has ever been, it may be time to address their concerns in a serious manner.
[Washington Post, New York Times]
