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What Benefits Could College Athletes Receive From Collective Bargaining?
Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
Date: April 14, 2014
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When Peter Sung Ohr – regional director of the Chicago Office of the National Labor Relations Board – ruled in favor of Northwestern University football players, this group was given the right to unionize.
As a result, the college athletes received the right to collectively bargain with the university – as they are now considered employees.
The following are some of the major issues that football players could bargain with the university over:
- Wages – For the entire existence of the NCAA, athletes were not monetarily compensated. Whether a football or lacrosse player, these people signed a scholarship that provided them with a free education to play sports. If Northwestern University football players enter into collective bargaining with the school this could change as they may want to negotiate wages based on their play.
- Hours – Another item the NU football players could negotiate is work hours or practice time, in their case. Student-athletes have a lot of responsibility between classes and sports and to some, the time commitment can be overwhelming. If that is the case at NU, the football players could negotiate for fewer hours at practice to put more of a focus on school.
- Scholarship revoking – Sports scholarships are often a year-to-year deal. While scholarship can not be revoked based on athletic performance, coaches could pressure a kid to transfer by taking away his playing time. NU football players could help prevent these types of situations through collective bargaining by making scholarships four-year binding agreements under all circumstances.
There is still a long legal process ahead, but it will be interesting to see if NU football players are able to change the NCAA with this ruling, or if it will be overturned. Should that be the case, the NCAA will likely remain the same.
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