Revolutionary ruling: Fed agency says Northwestern players can unionize

Revolutionary ruling: Fed agency says Northwestern players can unionize

CHICAGO -- In a stunning ruling that could revolutionize college sports, a federal agency said Wednesday that football players at Northwestern University can create the nation's first union of college athletes. 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."Based on the entire record in this case, I find that the Employer's football players who receive scholarships fall squarely within (federal labor law's) broad definition of 'employee,'" Peter Sung Ohr, the NLRB regional director, said in his 24-page decision. An employee is generally regarded by law as someone who receives compensation for a service and is under the direct control of managers. Players argued that their scholarships are compensation and coaches are their managers.

These kids really haven't thought this though. If they do become a union and get the two grand stipend they want they will have to pay taxes on it. But they will also have to pay taxes on the 70K plus scholarship they get also. This is nothing but greed on the players part they get a free ride through college and want even more on top of that. Hope you enjoy those taxes.

There are still enough Steelworkers to have a union?

The NCAA could always say that Northwestern is barred from Division I play since they are employed as an athlete, therefore NOT an amateur and NCAA ineligible.
why can't players just accept their under the table handouts and freebies?

reply to post by buster2010


From what I heard Buster, the students didn't want it! So wtf is going on with this?

reply to post by buster2010


so I guess you are pretty much anti union?

If this becomes widespread, it will kill college sports. There are only a very few large schools that have enough marquis draw and money in their alumni that can make the money required to pay their money sports athletes, and even then, they'll have to likely cut a lot of the lower sports on the totem pole, especially when Title IX gets involved because it demands parity with female athletics.

So, basically, you'll have a lot of schools that will more or less cease to exist as sports powers who have decent programs today. You know the NCAA March Madness Field? Kiss most of those programs good-bye. Most of the power conferences will lose a lot of their schools. You might keep some of the top-tier programs in the biggest conferences for maybe one big college conference, and if you aren't a fan of one of those schools ... well too bad, so sad.

It's really sad, too because I went to school on an athletic scholarship and knew a lot of kids who came out of tough circumstances. Our school really worked hard to graduate a lot of the kids, including football and basketball kids, and a lot of those kids used it as a opportunity they otherwise would never have had.

How many kids, particularly in the non-marquis sports, are going to lose a chance at an education because of this going forward?

tinner07
reply to post by buster2010

 

so I guess you are pretty much anti union?

No just anti students that think they should be paid to go to school even though they play a sport.