The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association (DCCA) has been recognized by the Cowboys as the collective bargaining representative of the DCC, according to a Friday news release from the parties. The recognition comes after “meaningful discussion” between the team and the newly-formed union, and the parties are set to begin collective bargaining, the release said.
Tad Carper, the Cowboys’ senior vice president of communications, confirmed the union to The Dallas Morning News, but declined to offer further comment. The DCCA did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The move comes after years of discussion around the pay for the cheerleaders, who are one of the most recognized dance squads in the world. The cheerleaders’ salary was a major plot point in Season 2 of Netflix’s docuseries “America’s Sweethearts,” which has profiled the team over the past few seasons. During that season of the show, the dancers said they got a 400% pay raise.
Former dancers have revealed how little the team has made even as its profile has risen through TV shows and other outlets. In the 2010s, the Cowboys were the defendants in a fair-wage lawsuit from three-year veteran Erica Wilkins, with reporting on the suit indicating she only made about $16,000 in her highest-earning year with the team. During the Cowboys’ heyday in the 1990s, the cheerleaders reportedly made $15 per game, which later rose to $50 per game before the turn of the century.
Staff writer Calvin Watkins contributed to this report.