The US women's football team is now considering higher pay: NPR

The celebration of the Women's World Cup Football Championship is traveling this week from France to New York. On Wednesday, the US Women's National Team will be honored with a magnetic tape parade and handing over the city's keys, following its 2-0 win over the Netherlands in Sunday's final on Sunday. La France.

But in the middle of the celebration, women are now focusing on a more serious issue. An action for sex discrimination, filed before the tournament, requires pay equal to that of their male counterparts. And legions of fans of the US Women's National Team say a fourth World Women's World Cup title will make things even stronger.

Equal salary

In the stadium near Lyon, Sunday, the pivot did not take long.

From joy to indignation.

As American players hugged and celebrated their hard-won victory against a tough Dutch team, "pay equity" songs sprang from the stands. The members of FIFA, the international governing body of football, should have paid $ 4 million in bonuses to American women, against $ 38 million paid to the winner of the World Cup last year.

From fans to players, the message was clear.

"In order for our women to represent and show that our football program is superior, it should entice the United States to pay these women what they deserve to be paid for," said Kenneth Lloyd, of D & # 's Austin, Texas. He watched the match in France with his son and daughter.

Megan Rapinoe, the declared winger of the United States, won the Golden Ball Award, awarded to the tournament's most valuable player. But after the match, she assumed other role as plaintiff in the class action brought in March against US Soccer, the governing body of sport in the United States. The lawsuit was filed by American players, but Rapinoe said everyone at the Women's World Cup helped advance the fight.

"All the players, I mean all the players in this World Cup, have presented the most incredible show you can ever ask," said Rapinoe. "We can do nothing more to impress, to be better ambassadors, to do more, to play better, to do anything, it's time to take this conversation to the next level."

A delicate resolution

The next step is mediation, as members of the American women's team and their federation try to solve the problems of equal pay and better working conditions.

On the surface, the resolution seems easy.

Pay American women what American men earn. Watch the women's success against the lack of men, amplified Sunday. The women won their fourth Women's World Cup title, while the men lost in the final of a regional tournament. In 2017, the men failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

And watch what teams win for their federation.

The Wall Street Journal reports that from 2016 to 2018, games for American women generated about $ 50.8 million in revenue, compared to $ 49.9 million for male games.

However, Michael McCann, an expert in sports law, believes that solving problems is tricky.

"It's a complex subject," says McCann, adding, "It's not as simple as I think it is described."

McCann heads the Law Institute of Sport and Entertainment Law School of the University of New Hampshire. He says that there is no clear consensus on many of the issues at stake in this dispute.

"Both systems [for paying women and men] are designed differently, "said McCann, and the systems were structured by separate collective bargaining agreements.

"The men's system pays the players when they play, through bonuses, while the player system has guaranteed payment and also pays some bonuses, but its structure is different."

McCann says that there is a debate about how revenue is awarded to male team players and women's team players. There is a debate on sponsorship. Sponsorships are sometimes sold in lots, so it's hard to say that they go to one team or another.

In addition, teams play different numbers of games, which also affects revenue.

So with all these complexities and moving elements, is the popular perception that American women are significantly underpaid relative to men correct?

According to a Washington Post article, women are sometimes paid less. The largest difference in pay seems to be related to the World Cup bonuses mentioned above.

McCann says the trial remains in place while the mediation continues, but the litigation is effectively suspended during the discussions. If mediation fails, he says, [the women] resume their litigation.

Part of a bigger story

Emily Martin looks back at her position at the National Women's Law Center. She is Vice President of Education and Workplace Justice at the NWLC, and she sees women's struggle as part of a broader and invigorated women's movement over the past two years. last years.

"This should be seen as linked to the initiative Time's Up," said Martin, "so many women in the entertainment industry and beyond have stood up and said:" We We will no longer deal with inequalities. We're demanding our due & # 39; "

"I think this is related to the Me Too movement, where many people shared their stories and said it was time to radically change the way we treat victims of sexual violence in this country."

"And this is related to the March of Women, where so many women literally took to the streets to say that the status quo is not good enough and that it's time to change."

Although the pay gap between women and men in the United States may not be as blatant as it is often described, Martin believes that women from all over the country, regardless of their job, should lend pay attention to the situation. She says that when we compare women and men who work full time all year, women receive about 80 cents for every dollar paid to men.

"I think it will make women come forward and say," Pay me what you owe me, "Martin says. "I also think that when you see this type of high-level excellence fighting for equal pay, it's an important incentive for legislators … both at the federal level and at the federal level … to do the same. "

According to Martin, given the continued excellence of the US Women's National Team, pay equity may be too low – and it may be time to ask for a better salary.