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[Silver Arrows]

Decided to drag this topic out of NHL-GAF because it is starting to encompass more labor based issues.

The skinny of it is that the USA Women's hockey team has boycotted the Women's World Hockey Championships this year over getting a fair living wage and not to be treated like second class citizens by USA Hockey. It should be noted that the Women's World Championship is being held in Plymouth, Michigan, known as one of the centres of hockey development in the US.

Of course, USA Hockey denied their requests, and there has been posturing from both sides in preperation for a long, nasty legal battle. But, this tweet from someone close to the goings on in this situation paints an incredibly disturbing and disgusting picture:

Got word now that USA hockey reached out to a player on a U16 (!!!!!) team to play in World Championships.

To put this in perspective, that is giving a girl under 15 years of age a chance to be slaughtered by much more fit, grown into their bodies women that are so much older then them from both Russia and Canada. USA Hockey is trying to make 15 year old girls out as scabs in this conflict. Let that sink in.

And as this tweet points out, the reason why USA Hockey is having such a hard time finding scabs is that '(They) won't find a woman at any level of sports who doesn't know what it's like.' It also helps that the Canadian women's team is supporting the Americans who are boycotting the World's.

It has been said that the men and women's teams for USA Hockey get paid the same amount, which is essentially zilch, nada. The thing is, the men are often subsidized by contracts they get from pro teams, or NHL teams, while the women have much more strenuous training camps, exhibitions and tournaments, and are expected to balance their work lives (Which often ran the gamut of more menial jobs) while not getting a penny from USA Hockey.

This is going to be a very big issue moving forward. We have seen the US Women's Soccer team have ongoing battles with USA Soccer over these same issues, but in this case, the women's hockey team is getting ready for a nasty, prolonged war.

EDIT: Added an article which does a good job in describing things.

And an interview by Meghan Duggan on this very issue.

 

[CreeperBlocks]

It also seems like some American NHLers might boycott the Men's world championships in solidarity with the Women's Team.

https://twitter.com/walsha/status/846071206604300289

 

[Faustek]

So... Ok I could roll with some of it since they are paid the same, which still is apparently a ridiculous low amount compared to what they rake in, but not having the same benefits? No disability insurance? Not allowed to bring guests? All that the men get.

USA, why the Fuck are you so adamant about treating your women athletes as second class citizens?

Also... Yeah good luck sending in a team of fifteen year old children against trained fully grown athletes.

Esit:

It also seems like some American NHLers might boycott the Men's world championships in solidarity with the Women's Team.

https://twitter.com/walsha/status/846071206604300289

Hope they show some backbone and stand in solidarity with the women.

 

[Silver Arrows]

So... Ok I could roll with some of it since they are paid the same, which still is apparently a ridiculous low amount compared to what they rake in, but not having the same benefits? No disability insurance? Not allowed to bring guests? All that the men get.

USA, why the Fuck are you so adamant about treating your women athletes as second class citizens?

Also... Yeah good luck sending in a team of fifteen year old children against trained fully grown athletes.

Simple: they don't want to appear as they are bringing out labor. It's the same deal they give the men's team, but at the same time, most of the men are making good with entry level contracts that dwarf what the women make, or NHL level contracts.

USA Hockey as it stands barely gets fuck all, certainly compared to the government grants and cash Hockey Canada gets yearly. So they would rather skimp by, posting even financial numbers then make the effort.

 

[Faustek]

^
I really need a "Last chance U" but for women athletes now.

 

[Big Blue]

USAH should absolutely be embarrassed. Reports are that they reached out to U-16 players to fill the slots.

 

[Silver Arrows]

USAH should absolutely be embarrassed. Reports are that they reached out to U-16 players to fill the slots.

I mean, they are doing what most sports leagues do in this situation, they try to fill the spots with scabs.

Doesn't make it any less pathetic, or dangerous in this case.

 

[Big-E]

USA hockey shouldn't pay the men anything and give some of that money to the women. Every single person on USA hockey is a millionaire or months away from being one. The women need the money far more. Same thing with USA soccer. Men might bring in more money, but the players themselves don't need it.

 

[Faustek]

USA hockey shouldn't pay the men anything and give some of that money to the women. Every single person on USA hockey is a millionaire or months away from being one. The women need the money far more. Same thing with USA soccer. Men might bring in more money, but the players themselves don't need it.

For soccer I'm pretty sure it was the other way around but the women still got less. At least audience wise. Can't speak for how the sponsors and adds worked for the men or women.

 

[Faustek]

So checked national evening papers now and bet your ass the headlines are about the men maybe boycotting it. Well... Yeah ok. Now people will read it. Sigh.

 

[Silver Arrows]

USA Hockey, women's team had a deal last week before it was voted down

The 23 members of US women's hockey team believed they had an agreement with USA Hockey last week to end their standoff before the governing body reversed course.

The tentative deal — which included substantial increases in wages and other benefits — was agreed to during meetings in Philadelphia last Monday between the players and their representatives, and USA Hockey executives. But the deal was rebuffed by USA Hockey’s 15-member executive committee, a person with knowledge of the negotiations who is unable to speak publicly told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday.

The players were informed Thursday that the USA Hockey executive committee had rejected that original agreement, the person with knowledge of the talks said. The players received a counter offer that they found “unacceptable” and it was quickly rejected.

 

[Silver Arrows]

USA Hockey executive board meets, but boycott by women’s team still looms

With the clock ticking, the organization’s executive board met throughout Monday to weigh its options, facing mounting political pressure and a vow from the national team players to boycott the year’s biggest tournament until a resolution is struck over pay and resources afforded to the women’s program.

While USA Hockey has reportedly explored the option of utilizing replacement players, no formal announcement was made Monday night about the organization’s plans.
...
And last week all four major sports unions issued statements of support. “It is important that the best American women players be on the ice for the World Championship and the notion of seeking replacement players will only serve to make relations, now and in the future, much worse,” the NHL Players Association said.

“These women understand inequality when they see it and are expressing their right to be treated fairly as athletes and workers,” said DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association. “Of course, they have our support in daring to withhold their services until a fair agreement is reached.”

 

[Hari Seldon]

They are facing an uphill battle. It makes for bad press but fundamentally no one gives a fuck about the World Championships in the US, and even less care about USA Women's hockey. I do feel bad for the women on the team, they are literally going from regular jobs to playing high level tournament hockey. They are not famous like the USA Women's Soccer team, there are no big endorsement deals they can do. Alex Morgan is probably a millionaire just from endorsements alone.

 

[Silver Arrows]

USA Hockey, women’s team reach tentative deal in pay dispute: report

USA Hockey and the women’s national team reached a tentative agreement in their wage dispute that will avert a boycott of the upcoming world championships, according to a USA Today report on Tuesday.

The report, which sourced a person who requested anonymity because the agreement has not been finalised, said terms of the deal were not immediately known and the players were expected to vote on the pact around 12 pm ET.

Neither USA Hockey or the players’ lawyer were immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

The report of a tentative deal comes after over a year of efforts by the women’s team to secure higher wages and support from USA Hockey.

The women’s team drew international attention when two weeks ago they threatened to boycott the world championships, which start on Friday in Michigan.

Team USA have won the past three world championships and are scheduled top play their first game of the tournament on Friday against rival Canada.

 

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

Might be a good thread for this. Did you guys know there is a NWHL and a CWHL? The former actually pay their athletes (very little) and the latter doesn't guarantee pay. It is a fairly new league and it needs support. They just finished their second season and games are streamed on youtube. Neither league is backed by the NHL, and ideally they should merge and be backed by the NHL like some clubs in the WNBA are backed by the NBA and some clubs in the NWSL is backed by the MLS.

 

[Kazerei]

Glad to hear the American women got a nice pay raise! Makes me wonder how Hockey Canada treats its players. People only seem to care about women's hockey when the Olympics roll around, but getting a good payout once every 4 years is pretty dire.