The US women’s hockey team are planning to boycott the world championships in Michigan next month because they are tired of being treated “like an afterthought” by their federation.

USA, the reigning world champions, say they have been consistently rebuffed in their efforts to receive a fair and just pay offer from USA Hockey, so they won’t be reporting to training camp next Wednesday unless a deal is struck. Several players tweeted a statement that accused USA Hockey of failing to provide “fair wages and equitable support”.

Meghan Duggan, the team captain, said: “We are asking for a living wage, and for USA Hockey to fully support its programs for women and girls, and stop treating us like an afterthought. We have represented our country with dignity and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect.”

Duggan’s team-mate Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson told AP: “To voluntarily take ourselves out of the running to do that is not easy, but it’s what’s right, and we’re asking for what’s right and fair. It’s definitely hard. But as a group we’ve made this decision and as a team and I’m proud to do this with my team-mates and to stand arm in arm with them and to say enough is enough.”

The wage dispute mirrors one in women’s soccer. Last year, the World Cup-winning national team filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging wage discrimination by the US federation. Lamoureux-Davidson said the hockey players have been in contact with their soccer counterparts about their fight.

The players have had contracts only in Olympic years and are seeking a deal that covers them in all other years. According to the statement released by a law firm representing the players, USA Hockey has paid players $1,000 a month during their six-month Olympic residency period and “virtually nothing” the rest of the time.

Lamoureux-Davidson said they were making a stand to try to force a change. “We all want to go play,” she said. “But it’s been 14 months and we haven’t seen progress, so if there’s progress within the next week and a half, we’ll see. But there needs to be significant steps taken and hopefully USA Hockey finds this significant enough to want to start making progress with us.”

Assistant captain Monique Lamoureux-Morando said: “It’s hard to believe that, in 2017, we still have to fight so hard for basic equitable support. But when I think about the women who paved the way for our team – and when I see girls at rinks around the country who are dedicated to pursuing big dreams and look to us to lead by example – it’s well overdue for us to speak up about unfair treatment, even if it means sacrificing an opportunity to represent our country.

“We owe the next generation more than that. We owe it to ourselves to stand up for what is right.”