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Michelle Obamais sharing her support for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s (USWNT) historic pay agreement, reached this week.
On Thursday, the former first lady, 58, shared her thoughts on the landmark soccer collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) onTwitter.
“I’m so proud of the talented players of@USWNTwho worked tirelessly for years to advocate for the pay they deserve,” she wrote. “I’m thinking of all the little girls everywhere who dare to dream and will see this team as an example of what’s possible when you never give up.”
Thursday’s tweet was not the first time the Obamas havebackedthe women’s national team. In 2019, after the USWNT beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the Women’s World Cup final match, former PresidentBarack Obamashowed off his very own personalized USWNT jersey.
“Proud to rep America’s best team! Congrats@USWNTand thanks for being such a strong inspiration for women and girls — and everybody — all across the country,” the former president, 60, said in an Instagram caption underneath a photo of him grinning and holding up the jersey with “Obama” printed on the back.
This week’s milestone occurred when the United States Soccer Federation, USWNT Players Association and United States National Soccer Team Players Association agreed to historic CBAs that will include equal division of World Cup bonuses for the men and women players.
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Under the new agreements, 90 percent of the men’s and women’s World Cup prize money will be put into a pool and split evenly among the two national teams. The CBAs will go into effect on June 1 and last until 2028.
The agreement also covers other areas such as child care, parental leave, short-term disability, mental health impairment, travel, safe work environment, scheduling predictability, and equal quality of venues and field playing surfaces.
Though there is a possibility for the men’s soccer players to receive less compensation than in the past, Walker Zimmerman, U.S. Men’s National Team defender, said during a call with reporters on Wednesday that it was the “right thing to do” when looking at the bigger picture.
“We recognize that sure, there was a potential chance of making less money, no doubt about it,” he said. “But we also believe so much in the women’s team and the whole premise of equal pay and ultimately that was a big driving force for us — to do something that no other team had done before and really try to do this together.”
source: people.com
