Lessons from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' Pay Campaign

America's Sweethearts, a Netflix docuseries about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, is some of the most compelling television I've ever seen. Over two seasons, the show covers the challenges and heartbreak of becoming a DCC, along with insights into the personal lives of the women auditioning and performing in the dance troupe. I loved the first season when it was released last year, but I also found it extremely frustrating. Almost all of the cheerleaders are shown to hold a day job, heading to practice for the Cowboys in the evening. It was clear that all of these women were at the top of their game, so it boggled my mind that they weren't being paid enough to cheer full-time.

As it turns out, cheerleading in America, even at the highest level, is not very lucrative. The DCC is actually one of the better-paid gigs, at the embarrassingly low rate of $7 per hour with no overtime. So I was thrilled to watch the second season to find out that one of the throughlines was a pay campaign from the cheerleaders, culminating in their wages being raised by 400% for the following season's contract.

It's extremely exciting to see a show with such a wide reach demonstrating the power of collective action in the workplace. So for this week's post, I wanted to break down some of the takeaways from the show that resonated with me as an organiser.

1. Recognise that just because you have it good, it doesn’t mean that things can’t be better.

It's no secret that becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader is a gruelling, highly competitive process. After submitting a video audition, the qualified dancers travel to Texas, where they are subjected to what is called 'training camp,' a few weeks of practice combined with an audition process that whittles them down to an eventual team of 36. The women fly in from all around the US (and even from abroad!) for the privilege. After all, becoming a DCC can be a lifelong ambition—many of the women speak about training from childhood in the hopes of making the team. There are some great perks, too; the cheerleaders are shown receiving discounted beauty treatments from local businesses, and many of the members attempt to translate their newfound fame into a social media following and brand deals.¹

As someone who has worked in the arts for many years and has been paid terribly for it, I'm very familiar with the concept that one should feel privileged just to have a job in a competitive sector. But as DCC Megan remarks to her boyfriend, at the end of the day, [the perks] don't pay my rent.' The first season of America's Sweethearts depicts some of the struggles of the cheerleaders' low salaries, but in season 2, we're further exposed to just how brutal their realities are, with one cheerleader working four jobs and another receiving an eviction notice for being behind on her rent.

Many of the cheerleaders in season two, particularly those who have been cheering for several years, are visibly frustrated by this treatment. To try to resolve this, a group of the more senior cheerleaders band together to start initiating conversations with the Cowboys' HR team, and one of the cheerleaders, Amanda, is shown speaking to the team's director Kelli and the head choreographer Judy about her concerns. The senior cheerleaders also host a Zoom call to fill in all of the other cheerleaders about their meetings, while hinting at plans to walk out of practice if their contracts aren't revised.

What I found so powerful about these moments is the palpable conviction from the cheerleaders that something is not right. For all of their love for the team and their work, the women understand they do not deserve to struggle at the hands of their employer. One of the major difficulties I've found as an organiser is not in convincing others that their conditions or pay could be improved (people love to complain), but rather in pushing them to do something to change their situation.

But the women of the DCC are steadfast in their belief that they deserve better. In one of season two's most powerful moments, Amanda states that she has no intention of returning to the team the following year because of how she has been treated by management. It goes to show that even if you have the dream job, the priority should always be to be treated with dignity.

2. Think solidaristically. This isn’t just about you!

One of the best things about America's Sweethearts—and what I believe to be the secret sauce that makes the show so compelling—is the relationships between the women on the team. To many of them, joining the DCC also entails becoming a part of a found family and developing connections that will last their whole lives. Because of this, there is a built-in foundation of empathy and solidarity for others, an essential component of strong organising.

This is key because as many of the women make clear, their pay campaign isn't just a self-serving endeavour. Sure, a revised contract would benefit each of them as individuals, but it's evident that their larger motivation is the overall well-being of the team as a whole. Better pay for everyone would allow those on the team who are less privileged to live stable lives—as Amanda notes, she's able to support herself because she's married, but 'some girls don't have that.'

A solidarity-first mindset is essential to any workplace organising because campaigns can take a long time. This goes for the DCC cheerleaders as well. The women receive their long-awaited pay raise, but this doesn't happen when they first speak to HR; their complaints are rejected out of hand and the attempt to walk out practice is sabotaged. It's only at the end of the season when they're informed that a raise will be put in place—in the following year's contract. This is a sad irony for the cheerleaders who are retiring—many of whom are leaders and have been the ones campaigning for better pay—will not be on the team when the raise comes into play.

But rather than seeing this as a loss, the leaders are just as jubilant about the win as the rest of the team; as they see it, a pay rise is a gift from the veteran members of the team built on a foundation of love for their teammates. As Megan says, 'I've had to put myself into so many uncomfortable positions, but I knew it was worth it because the girls are worth it.'

3. When you change your workplace, you can change the world.

One of the most frustrating things that often I hear from colleagues as a workplace organiser is that they don't believe that organising or unionising will 'do anything.' After all, they argue, they're just one person, and change usually involves big swings from high-profile people, not one lowly employee. But the misconception here is the lack of understanding that the power of organising for change in the workplace comes from density, not raw numbers. An office of ten where eight workers are organised is infinitely more powerful than one of a thousand employees with fifty organised workers.

In the second season of America's Sweethearts, the pay initiative is spearheaded by six of the more senior cheerleaders out of the team of 36. For a team that doesn't hire alternates, this is a significant enough portion of the DCC to pose a vague threat to the team's management: as Amanda says, with only six people, they can 'mak[e] a difference in not only the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders organisation, but in the pro dance world across the United States.'

Though this statement may at first sound a bit presumptuous, there's actually evidence to back up Amanda's statement. The common orthodoxy of pay from elite discourse is that it's a combination of a reflection of an employee's performance and market value. But this is clearly ludicrous—after all, the Dallas Cowboys are valued at over $10 billion—are we to argue that (a) their cheerleaders (competitive dancers performing at a national level) are underperforming and (b) the team is unable to afford to pay them?

Rather, as sociologist Jake Rosenfeld explains in his book You're Paid What You're Worth: And Other Myths of the Modern Economy, two of the four most significant factors determining pay are actually mimicry, 'your employer pay[ing] the going rate for your position in your industry, and equity, 'the notion of paying fairly.'² Put simply, managers look at other similar roles and companies to determine pay when they hire. With their high profile both as a squad and through their Netflix exposure, the DCC is therefore setting a standard for other teams in the NFL and beyond. Of course, other companies will not automatically proceed to hand their employees new contracts without any pressure being put on them. But I'm hopeful that the combination of a model for campaigning combined with the exposure of a new standard can bode a better future for other cheerleaders as well. As a result, the legacy that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are building is not just relevant to present and future DCC members but to dance's survivability as a profession itself—and all that with a push from just six women.

This gets back to my earlier point about being in one's 'dream job.' If you're privileged enough to have a career that others would kill for, it stands to reason that one has more of a responsibility to make one's workplace better, not less. Changing your conditions in your own workplace in a place like the arts (including dance!) will mean more accessibility and a better sector for everyone.³ As DCC leader Jada says, 'We do a damn good job at being cheerleaders. If there's things we're struggling with, things we're facing now, who are we to not try to make it better for the future?'

1  I'd also argue that a lot of these benefits could barely be considered 'perks' as opposed to necessities for the job. If a prerequisite of your job is to look a certain way, it seems reasonable to me that keeping up your appearance should be at least in part subsidised by your employer.

2  The other two factors being power and inertia.

3  These efforts, I argue, will always go further to bring equity to the workplace than superficial DEI or inclusion initiatives commonly deployed by employers. As Jennifer C. Pan argues in her excellent book Selling Social Justice: Why the Rich Love Antiracism, the most powerful tools to uplift marginalised people are infrastructure and social services that improve conditions for everyone. Pay rises like the one won by the DCC may seem modest in scope, but they're an essential foundation for tackling economic inequality at its root.