Northwestern football players seek to join union

West Point cadets are considered to be active duty members of the military, so... uh, yeah, I don't know how that works out?

Anyway, Northwestern comes out with a full-court press against the effort. So much for liberal, lefty values when the chips are down...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/sports/ncaafootball/at-northwestern-a-blitz-to-defeat-an-effort-to-unionize.html?hp&_r=0

 

FitZgerald wrote that they have nothing to gain by joining a union.

Um, they do, Pat. A lot. Starting with cream cheese.

 

Fitzgerald is right. Northwestern football players on scholarship will not personally gain by voting for unionization. They will be vilified. The entire power structure of Northwestern University, from assistant coaches all the way up to the President, will retaliate. The players' college experience will be totally disrupted.

Now ask yourself why.

Why are the NCAA, the president, the head coach, and the assistant coaches so hysterically afraid of a group of teens and 20-somethings having a seat at the table? Why would they threaten the end of the World As We Know It over a vote to give players a say in how they are treated by these other groups? Who stands to lose the most?

Voting to unionize will not benefit these players. Voting to unionize is a sacrifice for all of the players who will come after them; the ones who never make a dime playing football because they suffer a career-ending injury; the ones who will get CTE long after their playing days end; the ones who get screwed over by a tyrannical coach.

 

Northwestern is starting to implode. Lost to Iowa this week 48-7.
Wonder how much if anything has to do with union.

 

Last year, they went 5-7, including seven straight losses after a 4-0 start. Not much difference.

 

I think it has more to do with THE HAWKEYES ROCK!!!

 

Ever look at a college baseball schedule? Talk about messing with your education...

 

I'm not as familiar with Southern teams as opposed to Northern. The Northern ones usually, early in the season, have to fly south early on Fridays and play a night game, then a doubleheader Saturday, then perhaps an afternoon game Sunday before flying back late. Then they might play a nearby team during the week, weather permitting, in an afternoon. So I'd imagine they miss most, if not all, Friday classes, and perhaps an occasional one during the week. Plus, they lose the time on weekends that they could study, between travel and games.

I'd imagine Southern teams, it's as bad, if not worse, because they don't have the weather issues and can squeeze in more games.

Which is why I've seen baseball teams with lower graduation rates, as well as polls that show that among college athletes, they're among the least satisfied with their college experience. Plus, only a few get full scholarships.

 

Not happening.

In unanimous vote, NLRB rejects Northwestern football team’s attempt to unionize


In what is seen as a surprising decision, the five-member National Labor Relations Board announced Monday that Northwestern’s football players cannot form a union, as the board unanimously voted not to assert its jurisdiction in the matter.

“In the decision, the Board held that asserting jurisdiction would not promote labor stability due to the nature and structure of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS),” the NLRB announced in a statement. “By statute the Board does not have jurisdiction over state-run colleges and universities, which constitute 108 of the roughly 125 FBS teams. In addition, every school in the Big Ten, except Northwestern, is a state-run institution. As the NCAA and conference maintain substantial control over individual teams, the Board held that asserting jurisdiction over a single team would not promote stability in labor relations across the league.”

However, the NLRB said that its decision does not “preclude reconsideration of this issue in the future.”

 

Shocking.

 

Well, the decision was surprising in that nobody expected that to be the NLRB's reasoning. Doesn't speak well of the quality of reporting that nobody picked up on the possibility of the jurisdictional issue.

 

That's a kick the can down the road solution by the NLRB. Wondering if there are any smaller college conference which are all private (Ivy League maybe except there is part of Cornell which is public or a conference of all religious schools)?