(Reuters) – The United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) on Wednesday labelled the U.S. Soccer Federation’s offer of identical contract proposals for both the men’s and women’s teams as a nothing more than a publicity stunt.
The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) announced its offer on Tuesday as part of an effort it said was to align the women’s and men’s national teams under one collective bargaining agreement.
“USSF’s PR stunts and bargaining through the media will not bring us any closer to a fair agreement,” the USWNTPA said on Twitter.
“In contrast, we are committed to bargaining in good faith to achieve equal pay and the safest working conditions possible. The proposal that USSF made recently to us does neither.”
The USWNT sued U.S. soccer’s governing body in 2019 over allegations of gender discrimination in compensation and nearly every other aspect of their playing conditions.
Months later they won a fourth World Cup as fans chanted “equal pay” during the final.
The lawsuit, which sought $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act, was dismissed but the USWNT have since appealed.
The USWNT’s current labour agreement expires at the end of 2021 while the men’s team have been operating under the terms of a deal that expired in 2018.
In announcing its offer on Tuesday, U.S. Soccer also said it would not agree to a labour agreement that does take the step of equalizing World Cup prize money and invited the teams and their unions to join the federation to help find a solution.
FIFA offered prize money of $30 million to the teams in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, while the men took home $400 million in 2018.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
