Good News For NFL Cheerleaders In California

From a while back, we know that the Oakland Raiders cheerleader, the Raiderettes, filed a lawsuit against the NFL team, and they have finally started to receive some good news on this matter. The reason for the lawsuit in the first place was due to the long and arduous work hours, with very little pay.

For those that think that being a cheerleader is an easy job to have should try out to be one. They attend all home games, entertaining the fans for hours, and on top of that they have hours of unpaid rehearsal time, as well as having to charity appearances. Now, they do get paid something, but it breaks down like this:

• $125 per game
• $1,250 per season
• Roughly $5 per hour “wage”

This is appalling, especially since the US minimum wage is $7.25/hr and California’s minimum wage is $9/hr, and is actually set to go up to $10/hr by next year. This is why the California legislature approved a bill that would require cheerleaders to get paid at least minimum wage, as well as overtime and sick leave, just like any other NFL employee.

Hopefully Gov. Jerry Brown takes good care of the bill that is now in his possession and will continue to help these wonderful women get fair compensation for their years of hard work. This bill will apply to teams residing in California, but hopefully other states use this as an example and do the same thing. I would hate it if there were no cheerleaders.