NFL Cheerleaders Fight For Minimum Wage

US cheerleaders 'Buffalo Jills' are fighting for fair wages for their public appearances. As their demand have yet to be met, the first Buffalo Bills game of the NFL season will kick off without pompoms or acrobats.



The U.S.'s minimum wage debate has reached the prestigious National Football League (NFL). For the first time since 1967, the Buffalo Bills team will kick off their Sunday (21.09.2014) home game without the Buffalo Jills.



The Jills manager and director Stephanie Mateczun suspended the 2014 season, which officially began on September 4, after five former cheerleaders filed a civil lawsuit in April.



The former Jills alleged they received no payment for their work at games and mandatory public appearances. On the contrary, they were forced to foot the large bill for uniforms and equipment themselves.



The former Jills and their lawyers accuse the Buffalo Bills of illegal exploitation practices.



Payment arrears







"The minimum wage is meant to protect workers. All employees in the state of New York fall under this law," explains lawyer Sean Cooney.



The situation is tricky: several NFL cheerleading teams are not directly employed by the club, but by outside firms. In addition to the Buffalo Bills, the lawsuit also names Jills' former manager Citadel Communications, and Stejon Productions, which took over management of the Jills in 2011. The cheerleaders demand to be paid retroactively for several years. But the companies have suspended all appearances of the Jills until receiving further notice from their lawyers.



American Football culture







The debate ties into the current US discussion on social inequality. Recently fast food employees throughout the US fought for higher wages, striking to have their pay bumped up to $15 (11.62 euros) an hour.



But some are not sure that wages are an essential part of American cheerleading culture.



"We always considered it a privilege to be on the field to cheer for our team," wrote Jo Ann Gaulin, who founded the Jills in 1967, in an open letter to the cheerleaders. "We were honored to represent the Bills when requested to make appearances for charitable organizations and never thought of being paid."



It's a dream for many girls in America to dance on the sidelines as football stars run out.



Instructions for personal hygiene







"I thought that working for the team was the best thing in my life that could happen," says Alyssa U., one of the five former Jills to file a complaint. The dream, however, rapidly turned into an unpaid nightmare.



"The team told us how we have to move, speak, dress and behave – while we were working as well as in our free time," says Maria P., one of the five former Jills. Their lawyers published a rule book, in which there were even strict instructions for personal hygiene.



There is not only an opposition to poorly or un-paid cheerleaders in Buffalo. The New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals and the Oakland Raiders have also recently filed lawsuits against the NFL alleging wage theft and other labor law violations.



NFL: A money machine







The NFL is a money machine: The major league generated over nine billion dollars in sales in the last year, and its CEO earned more than 40 million dollars. A 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl, the season finale, cost approximately four million dollars.



The minimum wage in the US amounts to an average of eight dollars per hour.



At the beginning of September, the Oakland Raiders reached a compromise with their 90 cheerleaders, the Raiderettes, to retroactively pay over 1.25 million dollars for the years 2010 until 2013.



Whether and when the Buffalo Jills will cheer again is to be seen. Even without dancing and pompon support, the Bills are seeking to win their game Sunday against the San Diego Chargers.