Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Win Union Recognition

The Dallas Cowboys have voluntarily recognized a union for their cheerleaders, and the team and the squad are set to start collective bargaining. The news came in a team release on Friday, according to The Guardian.

The group recognized as the squad's representative is the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association, known as the DCCA. Recognition followed meaningful discussion between the organization and the DCCA. Collective bargaining is the process in which a union and an employer negotiate pay and working conditions, and it usually ends in a written contract.

The squad was founded in 1961 and is affectionately known as "America's Sweethearts." Its 36 members pushed for fair pay and better wages for years before the union push reached this point. Talks over their contract included threats of a walkout, meaning a refusal to perform.

Those talks produced a major raise. According to The Guardian, the hourly rate for some members rose from $15 for the 2024 season to $75, an increase of about 400 percent.

The fight over pay goes back further. In 2018, cheerleader Erica Wilkins filed a federal lawsuit over wages against the Cowboys. She claimed she averaged $15,000 during her seasons with the team and earned less than the team's male mascot.

The team has also faced other legal claims. It paid $2.4 million in 2022 to settle claims from four cheerleaders who accused team executive Richard Dalrymple of voyeurism, which means secretly watching people without their consent.

The squad's move also has a precedent. In 1995, the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees most private-sector unions, ruled that the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders could unionize. The Buffalo Jills disbanded in 2014.

For now, the next step is the bargaining table. The pay and working conditions the two sides agree on will decide what the union win means for the women on the sidelines.