• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Sport

US Women's Soccer Team Forbidden from Going on Strike

  • USA midfielder Carli Lloyd is handed the championship trophy after USA defeated Canada in the 2016 CONCACAF women's Olympic soccer tournament

    USA midfielder Carli Lloyd is handed the championship trophy after USA defeated Canada in the 2016 CONCACAF women's Olympic soccer tournament | Photo: Reuters

Published 4 June 2016
Opinion

The world champions demanded equal pay and better working conditions, but a judge says they can't fight for that by striking.

A federal judge said Friday that the United States women's soccer team, the current world champions, don't have the right to go on strike to improve their work conditions before the 2016 Olympic Games.

RELATED:
Soccer Turf: Women in the US Have It Much Worse Than Men

Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled that the team is subject to a clause in their contract that prevents them from calling a strike.

According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, a strike could have forced the women’s team to miss the Olympics, which would have damaged the development of the sport in the United States.

The union said it wanted to have the option of a strike, but had not yet announced one.

The demand for the right to strike is related to a recent lawsuit presented by five team players to the Commission for Equal Opportunities, complaining over wage discrimination. In some cases players in the men's team earn up to four times more than the women’s team players.

According to the federation, men and women are paid different based on their collective agreements.

The women’s team won the world championship last year. They demanded that their matches be played on natural grass not dangerous synthetic turf, the same as the men’s team.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.