Northwestern Football Players are Trying to Unionize

(Source) - For the first time in the history of college sports, athletes are asking to be represented by a labor union, taking formal steps on Tuesday to begin the process of being recognized as employees, ESPN's "Outside The Lines" has learned.

Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association, filed a petition in Chicago on behalf of football players at Northwestern University, submitting the form at the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board.

Backed by the United Steelworkers union, Huma also filed union cards signed by an undisclosed number of Northwestern players with the NLRB -- the federal statutory body that recognizes groups that seek collective bargaining rights.

"This is about finally giving college athletes a seat at the table," said Huma, a former UCLA linebacker who created the NCPA as an advocacy group in 2001. "Athletes deserve an equal voice when it comes to their physical, academic and financial protections."

The NCAA, in a statement from Chief Legal Officer Donald Remy on Tuesday, said "student-athletes are not employees within any definition of the National Labor Relations Act" and that there is no existing employment relationships between the "NCAA, its affiliated institutions or student-athletes."

"This union-backed attempt to turn student-athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college: an education," Remy said in the statement. "Student-athletes are not employees, and their participation in college sports is voluntary. We stand for all student-athletes, not just those the unions want to professionalize."

Huma told "Outside The Lines" that the move to unionize players at Northwestern started with quarterback Kain Colter, who reached out to him last spring and asked for help in giving athletes representation in their effort to improve the conditions under which they play NCAA sports. Colter became a leading voice in regular NCPA-organized conference calls among players from around the country.

"The action we're taking isn't because of any mistreatment by Northwestern," Colter said. "We love Northwestern. The school is just playing by the rules of their governing body, the NCAA. We're interested in trying to help all players -- at USC, Stanford, Oklahoma State, everywhere. It's about protecting them and future generations to come.

"Right now the NCAA is like a dictatorship. No one represents us in negotiations. The only way things are going to change is if players have a union."

Colter added later that "we need the same protections as NBA and NFL players. The NFL has the NFLPA, the NBA has the NBPA. Now college athletes have the CAPA."

This is going to be the big story in college sports this week, Northwestern football players are looking to unionize their team which would officially make them employees of the university.  Personally this pisses me off.  Seriously, of all the schools Northwestern is the one that's complaining that they need protection like NBA and NFL players?  Please, what a fucking joke.  Now I have spoken out about pay for play and said that I have absolutely no problem with college athletes getting money from the schools that are making hundreds of millions of dollars off of them (looking at you Texas A&M).  That makes perfect sense to me, these schools are selling merchandise based off of these players and the athletes are putting asses into seats. It makes total sense that they should get some cut of the earnings. 

With that said, Northwestern is not one of those schools.  Hey Kain Colter, go fuck yourself bro, you're not a fucking employee you pud.  Is someone forcing you to play football?  No.  Are you doing this for free? No, you actually get one of the best educations the Big Ten has to offer for it.  I am fully aware that you are trying to help out your fellow athletes and whatnot but guess what, it's a stupid fucking idea.  If players want to unionize then I say let them, but don't let them do it for colleges and the NCAA.  Let them start their own semi-professional league, like a minor league system for all college-aged athletes in basketball and football. Some will develop and make the pros, most will use it irresponsibly and forego a college education and future opportunities in the professional world because they were chasing a pipe dream.  Saying that the free education AND money isn't enough for college athletes is absolutely ridiculous.  With all of the restrictions and rules regarding health concerns, in addition to the top-of-the-line facilities that most of the bigger programs are working with, there is no reason college athletes should unionize for their own well being.  If you want a union then go start your own fucking league because as far as I'm concerned these guys' college experiences already have a million times more benefits than mine did, and I actually had to pay for that shit.