NLRB Rules Northwestern Athletes Can Unionize

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http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2014-03-26/college-athletes-union-ruling-legally-unionize-kain-colter-northwestern-national-labor-relations-board

CHICAGO — In a stunning ruling that has the potential to revolutionize college athletics, a federal agency said Wednesday that football players at Northwestern University can create the nation's first college athlete's union.

 

The decision by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board means it agrees football players at the Big Ten school qualify as employees under federal law and therefore can legally unionize.

 

The Evanston, Ill-based university argued college athletes, as students, don't fit in the same category as factory workers, truck drivers and other unionized workers. The school plans to appeal to labor authorities in Washington, D.C.

 

Later Wednesday, the NCAA expressed its disappointment with the decision.

 

Outgoing Wildcats quarterback Kain Colter took a leading role in establishing the College Athletes Players Association, or CAPA, which would take the lead in organizing the players. The United Steelworkers union has been footing the legal bills.

 

Colter, whose eligibility has been exhausted and who has entered the NFL draft, said nearly all of the 85 scholarship players on the Wildcats roster backed the union bid, though only he expressed his support publicly.

 

CAPA attorneys argued that college football is, for all practical purposes, a commercial enterprise that relies on players' labor to generate billions of dollars in profits. That, they contend, makes the relationship of schools to players one of employers to employees.

 

In its endeavor to have college football players be recognized as essential workers, CAPA likened scholarships to employment pay — too little pay from its point of view. Northwestern balked at that claim, describing scholarship as grants.

 

Giving college athletes employee status and allowing them to unionize, critics have argued, could hurt college sports in numerous ways — including by raising the prospects of strikes by disgruntled players or lockouts by athletic departments.

 

The NCAA has been under increasing scrutiny over its amateurism rules and is fighting a class-action federal lawsuit by former players seeking a cut of the billions of dollars earned from live broadcasts, memorabilia sales and video games. Other lawsuits allege the NCAA failed to protect players from debilitating head injuries.

 

NCAA President Mark Emmert has pushed for a $2,000-per-player stipend to help athletes defray some of expenses. Critics say that isn't nearly enough, considering players help bring in millions of dollars to their schools and conferences.

 

CAPA's specific goals include guaranteeing coverage of sports-related medical expenses for current and former players, ensuring better procedures to reduce head injuries and potentially letting players pursue commercial sponsorships.

 

For now, the push is to unionize athletes at private schools, such as Northwestern, because the federal labor agency does not have jurisdiction over public universities.

 

During the NLRB's five days of hearings in February, Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald took the stand for union opponents, and his testimony sometimes was at odds with Colter's.

 

Colter told the hearing that players' performance on the field was more important to Northwestern than their in-class performance, saying, "You fulfill the football requirement and, if you can, you fit in academics." Asked why Northwestern gave him a scholarship of $75,000 a year, he responded: "To play football. To perform an athletic service."

 

But Fitzgerald said he tells players academics come first, saying, "We want them to be the best they can be ... to be a champion in life."

 

An attorney representing the university, Alex Barbour, noted Northwestern has one of the highest graduation rates for college football players in the nation, around 97 percent. Barbour insisted, "Northwestern is not a football factory."

 

 

 

 

 

[BUCK3Y3 44]

Its clear the athletes are going to get paid. The problem is figuring out how to do it. Spitballing here.

 

They should give athletes all a flat stipend monthly and a lump sum payment upon graduating. The stipend should be adjusted for cost of living nationwide. Taking into account the room and board they already receive as well as their education. The university could also require athletes to take a personal financial management class in hopes that it will teach them to manage the money they are going to receive. Too many athletes end up broke at the end of their careers.

 

The stipend should be used for however the individual athlete sees fit. The lump sum payment should only be attainable if the players finish out their full eligibility. Leaving early to the NFL means you forfeit it. Some players will still leave early for a chance at millions and their portion of the money can be recycled back to the universities bottom line or for use within the athletic department.

 

For a player who has no real chance of playing in the NFL or doesn't desire to do so the lump sum would go a long way. Perhaps towards obtaining a masters degree to help them in their future career or for living until they can lock down a job. The lump sum payment should also only go to those athletes who's program net the university a profit. Sorry synchronized swim team.

 

In order for this to work a revenue sharing system would have to be put in place. Which is where I believe the problems will start. Greed. Some colleges won't like the idea because it would cut into their bottom line. However I think it would be necessary to keep smaller programs relevant. The universities deserve to profit off their athletic programs though. They are offering an oppurtunity to the athletes themselves with the education if the choose to persue it and a stage to showcase skills for those who wish to go on to the NFL. They are also providing a service to consumers by way of entertainment. It is a business.

 

I'm not going to throw specific numbers out because I don't know them and because I'm not an accountant. I'm sure this idea can be riddled full of holes but its the only fair way I could think of. If you let schools pay whatever they want the rich get richer so to speak.