From The Gist Team |
Quote of the Day |
There’s been a culture of silence for women in the workplace. We can’t continue to assume that the answer is no…We have to empower each other. We can’t accomplish anything alone, especially for women. When we band together, that’s when we’re most powerful and we ask that change happens. |
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— LA Sparks forward and WNBA Players Association (WNBPA) president Nneka Ogwumike (pronounced NEH-kuh oh-gwoo-MIH-kay) on the necessity and strength of the organized labor movement for women in sports. Teamwork makes the dream work. |
The Scroll |
The North American labor movement began out of a need to protect workers’ common interests. While workers tried to use their collective power in the free wage labor market for years, it was the Industrial Revolution that really saw the beginnings of labor unions.
So what is a union? A union is an organized group of workers who make decisions about the conditions at their place of employment. They function democratically, holding elections to choose representatives who negotiate with the employer on behalf of all members.
We have unions and the labor movement to thank for things like ending child labor, ensuring safe working conditions, creating the 40-hour work week, and compensating employees injured on the job.
Fast forward to today, hot labor summer is in full force. From the ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, employees are raising their voices and fighting for their fair share.
After a banner 2022 for women’s soccer unions, the fight for equal pay and equal treatment continued on the international stage this year.
Starting with the progress, in January 2022, the NWSL and NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) agreed to their first-ever collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in the league’s 10-year history. About damn time.
Then, in May 2022, the USWNT Players Association (USWNTPA) shattered a glass ceiling with a historic CBA of its own. After years of contentious litigation and negotiation, the U.S. Soccer Federation struck equitable labor deals with both the women’s and men’s unions. Truly, one nation, one team.
And the battle for footy equity marched on from there. In the leadup to this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC), CanWNT found themselves in a labor dispute, which included threats of a strike before the squad reached an interim funding agreement with their federation.
College sports have historically been untouched by discussions of labor organizing, primarily because the NCAA has always prided itself on amateurism, prohibiting any compensation for its athletes outside of scholarships and basic educational expenses.
Then, on July 1st, 2021, the NCAA finally allowed athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL) by signing endorsement deals with companies. But the watershed moment only came after the NCAA was dealt a huge loss in the Supreme Court.
But this may not be the end of the collegiate labor dispute. Despite the massive impact of NIL, a more traditional employee/employer relationship could be coming down the pipe, with the NCAA facing multimillion dollar lawsuits and rumblings of an athlete union and CBA to be negotiated. Watch this space.
Last year brought a major labor win on the diamond — after years of organizing, players in Minor League Baseball (MLB’s feeder system) finally unionized. While big leaguers have been represented by the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) since 1966, over 5K minor leaguers had no union and were paid measly salaries (below the federal poverty line).
But change finally came last September, when MLB voluntarily recognized the first-ever minor league union. That victory was followed by the inking of the first minor league CBA, which featured improvements including guaranteed housing, food and facility standards, and access to NIL opportunities.
As per, the WNBA leads the way when it comes to labor rights in women’s sports. The aforementioned WNBPA formed in 1998, just two years after the league was founded. In fact, the WNBPA was the first-ever labor union composed of pro women’s athletes.
With that progress in mind, there’s still ample room for improvement, as made apparent by the widespread and well-documented travel issues that have plagued the league the last few seasons.
The GIST's Picks |
Recs from our roster!
Tipping Pitches, a podcast that delves into the labor side of baseball. Headphones on, GISTer — we’re nationalizing the nation’s pastime.
Our Equal Pay for Equal Play collection. Wear your support for equality in women’s sports on your sleeve chest…and do it in style.
How other strikes have impacted sports. From Team USA’s threats to boycott the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship in order to achieve fair wages to the NBA’s 2020 wildcat strikes for racial justice, big things happen when athletes band together.
Fun and Games |
Today's CrosswordWelcome back to another edition of crossword! Congratulations Larisa B, SarahDMcC and Jenna Wassink for receiving the highest scores in last week’s crossword. Great work! Play again today and see how much you learned about Labor in Sports. We will update the leaderboard next week. Good luck! Play |
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