Kain Colter, shop steward?
Well now, this is interesting.
Today, several football players from Northwestern University, with the backing of the advocacy group the National College Players Association and the assistance of the United Steelworkers, filed union cards with the NLRB along with a petition to form the union.
More over the Chee-to:
Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA football player and founder of the NCPA, joined NU quarterback Kain Colter and USW President Leo Gerard in a press conference today:
“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.”
Huma [also] said that the athletes produce billions of dollars for the schools, which in turn pays coaches millions. But he said the system leaves players unable to cover basic expenses of attending school.
"The players need more than an advocacy group. College athletes need a labor organization that can get them a seat at the table," he said.
So what are the players looking for?
According to Colter, the players are looking for future medical care beyond their playing careers for injuries suffered on the field such as concussions or things like debilitating knee or spine injuries.
"The same medical issues that professional athletes face are the same medical issues collegiate athletes face, except we are left unprotected," said Colter.
Also, Huma pointed out that colleges make billions off of college football, and pays the coaches millions, yet leaves players unable to cover basic expenses of attending school.
Figures filed by Northwestern University show that the Big Ten Conference football program had revenue of $30.1 million in 2012-13. It had expenses of $21.7 million, leaving it a profit of $8.4 million.
But that is only a fraction of the money generated by college athletics. Federal reports filed by the 244 major college football programs show combined revenue of $3.6 billion in the 2012-13 school year, and a combined profit of $1.3 billion. Men's basketball at those schools produced another $1.1 billion in revenue, and a profit of $334.9 million.
The NCPA points to a study it did in conjunction with the Drexel University Sports Management department that found the average annual scholarship shortfall that athletes have to pay themselves to attend school is $3,285.
It is proposing that major colleges agree to give $52 million a year to football and men's basketball players -- an additional $3,000 each that it says would cover most of out-of-pocket costs. It is also proposing an additional $52 million to support women's sports at the same schools. It said the money could be covered by increased revenues already set to be collected by the schools through the NCAA in coming years.
Northwestern, obviously, is against the move. It said that because the athletes are students and not employees, it did not believe collective bargaining was the way to address the issues. But it did praise the students.
"Northwestern teaches them to be leaders and independent thinkers who will make a positive impact on their communities, the nation and the world," said Jim Phillips, the school's vice president for athletics and recreation. "Today's action demonstrates that they are doing so."
The NCAA, obviously, is also against this:
"This union-backed attempt to turn student-athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college: an education," said Donald Remy, the NCAA's chief legal officer, in a 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."
Now, right now, this move, if accepted, will only unionize private colleges like Northwestern. Public colleges like the University of Illinois, will operate under a different set of rules. But then the NCAA has been used to that.
It’s going to be years before a final decision is reached in this case. The athletes will have to win before a regional NLRB panel, then in front of the NLRB itself (and the NLRB may not be filled soon if a Supreme Court ruling vacates President Obama’s recess appointments to the board). The NCAA and Northwestern would almost certainly oppose them and appeal any loss to federal court. And all the way up to SCOTUS. Again, another reason why elections will matter. The writing on the wall, however, is clear: there is momentum building for sweeping NCAA reforms that address the rights of athletes, and not just with a stipend or some other form of temporary reprieve that merely perpetuates the current structure that gives them little to no say in the system.