Ainhoa Tirapu: "It's not only about the money, it's about our rights."
Thursday 24 October 2019 09:18, UK
Players in the Spanish women's soccer league have decided to go on strike after failing to reach a deal with clubs over working hours and minimum wages.
It is the latest move in the fight by female athletes worldwide for greater equality with men.
Around 200 Primera Iberdrola players met in Madrid and voted in favour of the strike, which is expected to begin in November after legal requirements are met.
More than 90 per cent of players voted in favour of the strike, which would be the first in women's football in Spain.
The move by Spanish women comes a few months after U.S. soccer players, led by Megan Rapinoe, used the World Cup in France to bring increased attention to the women's fight for equal pay.
The U.S. women's team had sued the federation a few months earlier, alleging gender and pay discrimination.
There have been moves by other female athletes worldwide demanding more equality, from sisters Venus and Serena Williams in tennis to professional surfers and hockey players.
The WNBA players' union and the WNBA are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement to improve wages, and the U.S. women's hockey team threatened a boycott of the 2017 World Championships to leverage better salaries and benefits.
Female hockey players in Sweden recently decided to boycott an international tournament in Finland because of their unhappiness about pay and working conditions.
The players' and clubs' associations in Spain have been in negotiations over a first collective agreement for more than a year.
They disagree over issues including the clubs' decision to limit working hours to 20 per week. Players want at least 30 hours to be guaranteed.
"We feel that we are soccer players full-time," said Athletic Bilbao captain Ainhoa Tirapu.
"Some clubs have had players with contracts of 12 hours per week."
Players said they have already made compromises, as their initial proposal was for clubs to guarantee the full 40 hours per week.
Changes to the working-hour limits would give players a minimum wage higher than the 16,000 euros (£13,800) currently offered by clubs.
Tirapu, a goalkeeper who also played for Spain's national team, supported the strike because no significant progress had been made after 18 meetings.
"It's not only about the money, it's about our rights," she added. "We hope to reach an agreement at some point, but we need this drastic measure because it's the right moment for women's soccer.
"This is not being done for ourselves, it's being done for our future players."
Among other issues is the protection of benefits for players in the event of pregnancy. The clubs claim they can't afford the changes currently proposed.
Spain has 16 first-division women's clubs, but only a few are fully professional.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have been among the most successful teams in the league, while Real Madrid will field a side in the league from next season after completing a takeover of another Madrid-based women's team, Deportivo Tacon.
Women's football has grown rapidly in Spain since the 2015 World Cup, when the country made its first appearance in the showcase tournament.
Calls for greater equality for men and women in the sport have increased significantly since then.
More major corporate sponsors have investments in the sport, and media coverage has increased considerably.
More than 60,000 people were at Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium last season for a game against Barcelona, with the league stating it was a record for the highest attendance at a women's club soccer game.
