For now, the push is to unionize athletes at private schools, such as Northwestern, because the federal labor agency does not have jurisdiction over public universities.
CHICAGO, Illinois -- In a stunning ruling that could revolutionize a college sports industry worth billions of dollars and have dramatic repercussion at schools coast to coast, 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 answered the question at the heart of the debate over the unionization bid: Do football players who receive full scholarships to the Big Ten school qualify as employees under federal law and therefore can legally unionize?
Peter Sung Ohr, the NLRB regional director, said in a 24-page decision that the players “fall squarely” within the broad definition of employee.
Pro-union activists cheered as they learned of the ruling.
“It’s like preparing so long for a big game and then when you win — it is pure joy,” said former UCLA linebacker Ramogi Huma, the designated president of Northwestern’s would-be football players’ union.
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