US soccer players sign equal pay agreements

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., joined U.S. soccer leaders, the U.S Women’s National Soccer Team and the Men’s National Soccer Team following the women’s Tuesday night match against Nigeria for the signing of the new collective bargaining agreements on Audi Field in Washington D.C. The agreements guarantee players receive equal pay regardless of gender.

The signing concludes a long battle over equal pay.

In May, the U.S. Soccer Federation came to an agreement to pay the men’s and women’s teams equally.

The governing body had announced separate collective bargaining agreements through December 2028 with the men’s and women’s unions, which halted years of negotiations.

The efforts to receive equal pay came from a push by the U.S. women’s soccer team, which has been more successful than the men’s team.

Players, including Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Alex Morgan, filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April 2016. The players sued three years later, seeking damages under the federal Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The sides settled the working conditions portion in December 2020, dealing with issues such as charter flights, accommodations and playing surfaces.

They agreed in February to settle the remainder for $22 million to be split into individual amounts proposed by the players. In addition, the settlement called for the U.S. Soccer Federation to establish a fund with $2 million to benefit the players in their post-soccer careers and charitable efforts aimed at growing the sport for women.

Klausner wrote the parties agreed that settlement funds will be distributed to players based on playing time, and their lawyers anticipated requesting “no more than approximately 30% of the common fund.”

The settlement was also contingent on the USSF reaching collective bargaining agreements to pay both men’s and women’s teams equally.

The equal pay dispute also stimulated a bipartisan Equal Pay for Team USA Act, which requires equal pay and benefits for all Team USA athletes representing the nation in global athletic competitions.

“Tonight is truly a historic occasion. An agreement is going to be signed that basically puts in equal pay for our female athletes because a group of women athletes, at the pinnacle of their success, had the audacity to say, ‘We deserve equal pay for our success,’” Cantwell said in part. “I want to thank U.S. Women’s Soccer, and since I come from Seattle where we love soccer, I have to say a special thanks to Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle, who signed the original petition to make this case a reality.”

The legislation was introduced in July 2021 by Cantwell and Sen. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., and passed the Commerce Committee in June.

Next, the legislation must go to the Senate floor for a final vote.