On March 8, 2019, International Women’s Day, the 28 players of the US Women’s National Team sued US Soccer for gender discrimination and going against the Equal Pay Act. The women’s team felt they were not treated fairly compared to the men’s team. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires that men and women working in the same workplace must be given equal pay for equal work. The problem the women’s team is encountering is that they are doing better than the men’s team yet still getting paid less. This summer the USWNT competed in the FIFA World Cup in France. Winning every game including the final, they placed first in the World Cup. The women broke many records during the World Cup like scoring the most goals in a single men’s or women’s World Cup match. It was their first game of the Cup against Thailand and the score was 13-0, while the largest number of goals in a Men’s Fifa World Cup game has been 9-0. In addition, the quarter-final game with USA and France had a record audience of 6.1 million people watching. Even after winning 12 consecutive matches of the World Cup and being the highest-scoring team with 26 goals, the women are still getting paid less than the men. According to the Washington Post, female US soccer players can sign a contract that provides an annual salary of $100,000 with additional bonuses for wins and ties. The men do not get annual salary but they receive larger bonuses per game. Even if they lose a match they are guaranteed $5,000. According to The Guardian, the women receive about $260,000 if they win the World Cup, but if the men win the World Cup they would each receive $1.1 million. The US men’s team has not won a single Fifa World Cup and are getting paid more than the women. After their victory in France, the team celebrated in New York. They paraded through the streets of New York and a ceremony was held at City Hall. Each player was recognized and awarded a key to the city. During the ceremony, the fans who were present shouted “Equal Pay, Equal Pay” as the US Soccer Federation President stood to say some words. He said, “In recent months you have raised your voices for equality, today on behalf of all of us at US Soccer I want to say we hear you, we believe in you, and we're committed to doing right by you.” Before the World Cup, the US Soccer Federation denied the women's team higher pay by saying that the men's and women's teams are “physically and functionally separate organizations” -Washington Post. Now that the women's team has much success, the US Soccer Federation is considering equal pay but they have not taken any steps to execute it. To this day, US Soccer continues to deny the USWNT in their fight for equal pay. They won’t give the women equal pay until they prove they are getting paid less. A trial had been scheduled for May 5, 2020, and will last 4-5 days. This issue has been around for many years and just started getting recognition. It should not have taken this long for people to realize the pay gap in US Soccer. Fans all over the US are supporting the women's team in the hope to receive equal pay. A bill was even created to help the situation but most likely won't pass Congress. The bill was created to withhold federal funding for the 2026 Men's Fifa World Cup until the women are given fair and equal pay. It was proposed by Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, and representatives Doris Matsui from California and Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut. Even though the US Soccer Federation President made it seem like they have a chance to receive equal pay, no progress has been made since he last spoke. |