Northwestern football players seek to join union

Yes, Alabama football and Alabama women's tennis are funded the same right now.

 

The difference in the NFL and really all professional sports is that they
are one organization which makes for an easier negotiation.

Do you see the NCAA as the universal negotiating body for all collages?

We've not even mentioned how title IX affects things. Clearly there would have to be some changes to those hard fought rules which would not come easy. Do you see anyone backing off on the basic premises of title IX?

 

You're getting way ahead of yourself. All this NLRB decision says is that the Northwestern scholarship football players are employees and that they have the right to hold a vote to see if they want to form a union.

There are plenty of questions yet unanswered that will need to play out through litigation. We're years and years away from having clarity on many of them. There are none, however, that can't be resolved.

To answer your question, I don't necessarily see the NCAA as the negotiating body for its member institutions but it could eventually be. Or it could be the major conferences. Assuming this whole movement doesn't get crushed in the legislative process, which is a big assumption, it would likely make sense for both the schools and the players to establish national entities that negotiate uniform standards that leave varying amounts of specifics to conferences and schools. But who knows how it will play out.

 

It's crucial for unions to grow period. The number/percentage of union households has been on the decline, and where it has grown, it's been in the public sector. (And, you all know how people feel about public sector union employees.)

This could potentially add thousands of new union members, who will sympathize with the cause of unions for their lifetime.

That's a very good investment for the unions.

 

Agreed it's a long way off but just raising questions of the top of my
head to show the complexity of the process.

Do think that the ruling will ultimately change college sports as we know it.
Perhaps a lot better for the major scholarship athletes but not necessarily
better for the fans.

I'm selfish. I love college football as it is. The fall is perfect. On fall Saturday's I can
sit from morning till late into the evening watching games for almost 5 months.

 

Absolutely a good investment for the labor movement, most of it in terms of a high-profile demonstration of employees gaining a voice in their workplace.

 

So, does this mean non-scholarship/walk-on players are ineligible to join this union? That's going to set up a two-tier system, that while it already exists, will be official, with some players receiving additional benefits/protections that others will not.

Does this somehow lead to an end of walk-on players?

 

There have been plenty of times in my life when I went into a legal decision or an opinion piece thinking one way, then read the reasoning behind a decision or opinion piece that took another position, and thought, "Well, I hadn't thought of it that way. Good points." This includes cases that I personally worked on and lost.

The second problem with his quote is that he is making a policy judgment of the decision's impact. Of course, that's not the judge's job - not that they don't look at that from time to time, although typically on the down-low. Although the New York Times and Wall Street Journal engage in this kind of 1st grade-level legal analysis every day on their editorial rail, the counter-argument to a legal opinion is usually not, "I don't like the results this will lead to."

Scott should have read the decision before he popped off. He looks like a fucking boob.

 

Pay scale- Will skill position players and starters get paid at a
higher rate?

 

The answer to every question is: "Maybe. Maybe not."

The beauty is we don't have to iron out every detail yet. Think about the Bill of Rights. A bunch of short, simple declarative sentences that leave so many questions unanswered. We address them as they arise, and we manage.

 

The ruling is basically a finding of fact that college football players were in fact employees of Northwestern University. Is there actually anyone here who wants to dispute that finding as a real world reality at FBS schools?

 

I can't envision a fall without college football, either, but I've grown less and less comfortable specifically because the NCAA, conferences and schools have hidden behind the sham of amateurism to deny the players a fair share in the fruits of their unique skills and efforts. Reading the decision would be an eye-opener for people who don't understand the time and effort required to be a major college football player. It would bother me not in the least to see athletes gain a collective voice to serve their interests.

But I don't think for a moment that college football or basketball will cease to exist because even after improving the conditions, benefits and compensation of players there will still be billions of dollars in earnings. They will just need to settle for somewhat less than the 98 percent of net they're taking now.