This won’t go over well...
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...argued-women-shouldnt-be-paid-the-same-as-men
“The job of a [men’s national team player] carries more responsibility within US Soccer than the job of a [women’s national team] player,” US Soccer argued in a court filing.
Embroiled in a
lawsuit over equal pay, lawyers for the
US Women’s National Team (USWNT) employer argued in a court filing Monday that women athletes are less skilled and work less demanding jobs than their male counterparts.
The filing was part of US Soccer’s attempt to prove that it has not discriminated against the
World Cup champion team based on their gender.
Does the US have no laws governning the right to equal pay like civilized nations do? Edit: Yes they do. The equal pay act of 1963 signed by John F. Kennedy:
"The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex (see Gender pay gap). It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program."
The US football assosciation is, (I assume) funded by the government allocations in the yearly budget. Men and women representing their country through public funding should always have the same pay and bonuses from those funds. The national assosciations that receive sponsorships, of which I assume all of them do, should have the right to distribute by market value, as they are private sector funds.
In civil sports, the market dictates salaries so no one is seriously disputing that. But to not have equal pay through national representation is somewhat of an absurdity.
We have the same in Norway due to the vast difference in interest between the sports, Women's and Men's Skii jump for example. But that stems primarily through sponsorships. Any pay allocated from public funding is I believe, the same.
This is a nice blast from the 1930's by the US soccer lawyer. Maybe they can offer the womens team a stove with a built in footbath while they are at it as a performance bonus. Absolutely revolting.
Final Edit:
So i did myself some due dilligence and learned a few things:
US Soccer is
NOT publicly funded, but are privately owned organizations, but rather owned by MLS teams or private investors. The assosciations pay the respective players that represent the organization.
So US Soccer's entire argument should rest on revenue generated for their argument about disparities for salary and bonus payouts. Not wether men or women work harder. It's about as clever as saying a Women's 100m sprinter is not as good as Usain Bolt. The physical attributes are completely different from nature, that is the entire reason we have a Men's and Women's division.
I reckon that US Soccer is making a defense as to not be in breach of Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination.
The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment.
The jobs
need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. It is job content, not job titles, that determines whether jobs are substantially equal.
Specifically, the EPA provides that employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment. Each of these factors is summarized below:
Skill
Measured by factors such as the experience, ability, education, and training required to perform the job. The issue is what skills are required for the job, not what skills the individual employees may have. For example, two bookkeeping jobs could be considered equal under the EPA even if one of the job holders has a master's degree in physics, since that degree would not be required for the job.
Effort
The amount of physical or mental exertion needed to perform the job. For example, suppose that men and women work side by side on a line assembling machine parts. The person at the end of the line must also lift the assembled product as he or she completes the work and place it on a board. That job requires more effort than the other assembly line jobs if the extra effort of lifting the assembled product off the line is substantial and is a regular part of the job. As a result, it would not be a violation to pay that person more, regardless of whether the job is held by a man or a woman.
Responsibility
The degree of accountability required in performing the job. For example, a salesperson who is delegated the duty of determining whether to accept customers' personal checks has more responsibility than other salespeople. On the other hand, a minor difference in responsibility, such as turning out the lights at the end of the day, would not justify a pay differential.
Working Conditions
This encompasses two factors: physical surroundings like temperature, fumes, and ventilation; and hazards.
Establishment
The prohibition against compensation discrimination under the EPA applies only to jobs within an establishment. An establishment is a distinct physical place of business rather than an entire business or enterprise consisting of several places of business. In some circumstances, physically separate places of business may be treated as one establishment. For example, if a central administrative unit hires employees, sets their compensation, and assigns them to separate work locations, the separate work sites can be considered part of one establishment.
So in short. US Soccer is arguing that women's phyiscal attributes should prevent them from receiving equal pay. In other news, they get out of bed, look in the mirror and think: "How can I be more like Satan today?"
