Canadian women’s soccer team says more work needed to reach pay equity – National | 24CA News
The Canadian ladies’s soccer group says regardless of the lately introduced interim funding settlement with Canada Soccer, there’s nonetheless “a lot of work to be done” to attain labour peace.
In an announcement launched late Friday, the ladies say the settlement in precept “does not solve the deeper issues around pay equity and equalization of supports and resources across the national teams” that prompted the ladies to take job motion earlier than final month’s SheBelieves Cup.
Canada Soccer says the funding settlement introduced Thursday mirrors the interim cope with the lads’s group for look charges and results-based bonuses. The governing physique referred to as it “a bridge deal to get us to a collectively bargained agreement.”
Read extra:
Canada Soccer strikes interim compensation cope with ladies’s group, clearing labour hurdle
The ladies, who briefly downed instruments prior earlier than the SheBelieves Cup opener in Orlando, say whereas they’ve instructed Canada Soccer they may play within the April FIFA window, their participation is contingent on “meaningful progress being made with respect to a number of bargaining issues.”
“Proper funding for the women’s national team program for 2023 and for the youth national program are at the very top of the list (of demands) right now,” the ladies stated within the assertion.
Sixth-ranked Canada is because of play No. 5 France on April 11 in Le Mans within the penultimate FIFA window earlier than the World Cup, which kicks off July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
The ladies need the identical backing and preparation upfront of their tournment as the lads bought earlier than the World Cup in Qatar final yr. Their considerations embrace being supplied the identical journey and workers, amongst different issues.
Like the lads, they need Canada Soccer to open its books and clarify why each applications are being lower in 2023, given the success of the 2 groups on and off the sphere. They additionally wish to see Canada Soccer’s cope with Canadian Soccer Business, which handles the governing physique’s broadcast and sponsorship rights.
The ladies say they’ve been instructed Canada Soccer gained’t run camps in the entire FIFA home windows for 2023, and that the scheduled camps will probably be shorter and contain fewer gamers than standard.
In their assertion, the ladies say they’ve needed to “bargain in the dark” due to “persistent failure by Canada Soccer to make proper financial disclosure to the players.”
The ladies’s present labour settlement ran out on the finish of 2021 whereas the lads are engaged on their first formal deal, having banded collectively because the Canada Men’s National Soccer Team Players Association final yr. The ladies organized underneath the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association in 2016.
Captain Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Janine Beckie and Quinn, who goes by one title, are because of seem earlier than the parliamentary Heritage Committee on March 9. The 4 are the group’s participant representatives.
Canada Soccer officers are because of seem earlier than the committee on March 20.
Nick Bontis stepped down as Canada Soccer president on Monday, acknowledging “that this moment requires change.” Former Olympian Charmaine Crooks was elevated from vice-president to interim president following his departure with Kelly Brownnamed interim vice-president.
The ladies seem lower than impressed by the momentary altering of the guard.
“As impressive as Charmaine Crooks is as an athlete and a Canadian, from the women’s national team’s perspective she represents the ‘old guard’ on the board. She was on the board when it approved the Canada Soccer Business deal in 2018, and she has always appeared to the players to be closely allied with Nick Bontis.
Unfortunately in the decade she has spent on the board, the players have seen nothing to suggest that she was working to promote the women’s national team’s interests,” the assertion stated.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
