College Football Players Win Right To Unionize

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday that Northwestern football players could unionize. Does that mean some players will be able to organize and get better health care and academic support? Or does it spell the end of college sports as we know it? The AP takes a look at all sides of the issue.

Question: Who came up with the idea of unionizing football players at Northwestern and why?

Answer: Outgoing senior quarterback Kain Colter began the process by helping form the College Athletes Players Association, which is also affiliated with the National College Players Association, an advocacy group in California. Colter, who wanted to go into medicine but couldn’t because of the time he spent playing football, said the main thing he wanted was to make sure player medical needs were met, even after graduation.

“If we are making sacrifices like we are, we should have these basic protections taken care of,” Colter told ESPN. “With the sacrifices we make athletically, medically and with our bodies, we need to be taken care of.”

The football players are backed by the United Steelworkers, which provided lawyers and other help in seeking the NLRB ruling.

Q: What does winning this decision mean? Will Northwestern players soon be walking a picket line?

A: No, and there’s a chance they may not end up unionized at all in the end. The decision by the regional NLRB director is an important one for the athletes to have a chance to move forward, but Northwestern says it will appeal to the full NLRB in Washington, D.C., and there is no timeline on how long a decision from the board would take to come down.

“This is not a final board decision,” said NLRB spokesman Gregory King. It’s a regional director’s decision.”

Q: Who does this affect?

A: Northwestern, for now, though there surely will be copycat efforts at other private schools should the full NLRB uphold the ruling that the players can organize as a union. The NLRB does not govern labor matters at public institutions, but it’s hard to imagine there wouldn’t be wholesale changes at those schools, too, should the union be successful in bargaining for working conditions at Northwestern.

Q: Does this mean college players will be paid?

A: No, though there are other developments in various lawsuits that might in the near future lead to increased stipends for college athletes. Former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon’s antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA is due to go to trial on June 9 in California, and a win could change the way college athletics are governed. An effort by NCAA president Mark Emmert to add $2,000 stipends to the scholarships of athletes failed a few years ago because of opposition by smaller schools, but experts say they believe players in the major conferences will in the near future be paid beyond room and board.