U.S. Soccer claims progress in CBA talks, but no deal yet on joint contract for men’s and women’s teams

U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Cone said Tuesday that there have been “constructive” collective bargaining negotiations lately with the women’s team’s players union. But there still seems to be work to do on the governing body’s goal of a joint deal with a single structure for the women’s and men’s unions.

“These discussions have benefited greatly from the consistent and active participation of the women’s players at the bargaining table,” said Cone, a former U.S. star player herself, in a letter published on U.S. Soccer’s website.

The women’s team is currently operating under a three-month extension of a deal that was to expire at the end of 2021. The new end date is March 31, 2022. The extension included some progress at the bargaining table, with an agreement for U.S. Soccer to no longer pay the NWSL salaries of national team stars who play in the league.

The players wanted that as much as the federation, so they could have more freedom in where they play — and increase pressure on NWSL team owners to spend more money.

Cone wrote that the extension “reflects our collective ability to work together and the urgency of both sides to reach a new agreement.”

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There has been less progress with the men’s team’s players’ union, which hasn’t had a working CBA since the end of 2018. That issue hasn’t gotten as much attention as the women’s players’ negotiations, in part because of their high-profile lawsuit over equal pay.

But three full years without a CBA is a long time, and there is no lack of attention on the men these days as they head toward the final games of World Cup qualifying.

The heat rose some when Cone and U.S. Soccer CEO Will Wilson held a conference call with media a few hours after Cone’s letter was published. Wilson was asked to confirm that last June, he negotiated a deal with the men’s union but saw it rejected by the federation’s board of directors. The board produced a counter-offer, but the men’s union swiftly said no — and threatened to strike between the June 6 Nations League final and a June 9 friendly vs. Costa Rica.

ESPN reported some of those details in September, as part of a story on the overall bargaining landscape. A separate source confirmed them to The Inquirer on Monday. Wilson said he didn’t want to “get into the specifics on where we were, but as is the case in any negotiation, there’s a lot to work through.”

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One of Cone’s big goals is to equalize the World Cup prize money that the men’s and women’s teams receive, and create a revenue-sharing deal between them.

“We’ve told both players’ associations that we will not reach a deal unless we find a way to equalize the World Cup prize money,” Cone said on the conference call. “So we’ve asked the men and the women to get together to find a place that is best for them. … U.S. Soccer has made proposals on ways that we should get there, but obviously, we need the help of the men and the women to get there — we can’t unilaterally do it.”

Other national federations worldwide have achieved equal pay deals overall, some based on cash amounts and some based on percentages of revenue. When Cone was asked which of those two paths she wants to follow, she said she’s “open to both options, but it’s my understanding the women would not accept equal percentage.”

In September, U.S. Soccer offered identical contract proposals to both unions. Two months later, all three parties gathered for the first joint bargaining session in federation history. There hasn’t been progress yet, but Cone praised the unions on the call for “a commitment to negotiate” on reaching equal terms.

“We’re happy to see that the men’s P.A. [players’ association] has joined some of the women’s P.A. negotiations, and hopefully we can get some player representatives as well when we can negotiate with the men,” she said. “We remain ready and willing to meet whenever the men are ready.”

Cone also noted in the letter that “while we haven’t received a commitment from either union to move forward with a single pay structure, we have been encouraged that they are willing to join us in discussions about that possibility as we continue to negotiate separate CBAs with each for now.”

But all sides know the contracts can’t be the same on every line. There won’t be a pregnancy clause in the men’s CBA, for example, and there will be other nuances.

“What we’re talking about here is equalized prize money, identical game bonuses, identical commercial revenue sharing agreements,” Cone said. “But will there be differences in the contract? Yes, because the teams are different and they have different needs. … It doesn’t mean that the contract has to be exactly the same, as long as everyone agrees that it is equal.”

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A CBA deal with the women’s team will not solve the most expensive question of the equal pay lawsuit: back pay for past World Cup prize money discrepancies. But that’s not because the sum being sought is nearly $67 million, a number all sides know would bankrupt the federation if it had to pay the whole thing.

In fact, it’s because the players’ union didn’t file the equal pay lawsuit — a group of players did. It’s a large group, to be sure, and they all are or have been in the players’ union at some point. But officially, the players’ union and the group of players in the lawsuit aren’t the same. So as a legal matter, the back pay issue has to be solved separately. Cone said this Monday, and a spokesperson for the players in the lawsuit confirmed it.

“The CBA will be more forward-looking,” Cone said, ”and then the litigation is looking back.”

At the same time as bargaining is going on, Cone faces an election campaign to keep her job. She is being challenged by her predecessor, Carlos Cordeiro, with the vote set to take place in March at U.S. Soccer’s annual general meeting.

It’s natural to wonder if facing a contested election — against Cordeiro specifically, who’s disliked by many U.S. women’s team players — will impact the bargaining process. Cone and Wilson were both asked about that, and did their best to not answer. But when Cone was asked about the election in general, she took a moment to do a little campaigning.

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“I’m all in [to] continue to pour my heart and soul into U.S. Soccer for the next number of years,” Cone said. “I think I’ve led the organization with integrity and honesty. I took on this role, and I’m running for re-election, because of my love of the game and my belief in the future of the game and my belief in U.S. Soccer.”

She noted some of the accomplishments of her tenure, including signing a new 10-year deal with longtime sponsor Nike that’s been called the largest commercial deal in federation history. And she noted how the pandemic hit U.S. Soccer’s finances hard, with games behind closed doors and youth programs shut down for many months.

“I would like to have a presidency that’s not constantly battling COVID,” she said with a hint of exasperation. If she can reach CBA deals before March, that could go some ways toward helping her get it.