The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have agreed to unionize, and the team has officially recognized their efforts.
As reported by The Dallas Morning News, the cheerleaders announced on Friday (Oct. 23) that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association (DCCA) has been recognized by the Dallas Cowboys franchise. The Cowboys and the DCCA came to an agreement following “meaningful discussion, and the team added they were “pleased to announce” the news that the DCCA is recognized as “the collective bargaining representative for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.”
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are one of the most famous dance squads in the world, but the subject of their salaries has long been an issue. They were the subject of Netflix’s three-season docuseries America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and their pay was discussed in the second season of the show, which premiered last year. During that same season, they later revealed they received a pay rise of 400 percent. During the ‘90s, they reportedly made as little as $15 per game, and the Cowboys were the defendants in a fair-wage lawsuit from a former dancer, Erica Wilkins, in the 2010s.
Outside of the NFL, the Cowboys Cheerleaders have made several prominent off-field appearances. They’ve appeared at multiple WrestleMania events, mostly recently in 2022.
As reported by NBC News, Pro Silver Star, the owners of the DCC brand, recently filed a lawsuit against the band My Chemical Romance last week after they performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with dancers in outfits resembling the DCC uniforms. The filing noted that the dancers engaged in a staged firefight onstage, “only to be depicted being shot.” They said they did not take issue with the “artistic ambitions” of MCR, but they ask they don’t feature dancers wearing DCC-resembling uniforms while doing it.
