Northwestern University Football Players Win Bid To Form Union

The Chicago regional chapter of the National Labor Relations Board has approved the petition from a group of Northwestern University football players seeking to form a union, a preliminary but unprecedented victory for college athletes that could lead to the formation of the first players' union in college sports history.

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The College Athletes Players Association, led by former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter and National Collegiate Players Association director Ramogi Huma, himself a former college football player, argued in front of the NLRB that college athletes fit the definition of employees under federal labor law and as such should have the right to organize and bargain with their employer, in this case Northwestern University. That university and the NCAA argued that the players are students first, not employees of the university, and shouldn't have that right.

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The NLRB examiner agreed with the players.

"[P]layers receiving scholarships to perform football-related services for the Employer under a contract for hire in return for compensation are subject to the Employer's control and are therefore employees," the decision said.

Football Players Win Bid To Form Union