Northwestern Quarterback/Wide Receiver Kain Colter and an undisclosed number of his teammates have made unprecedented news. For the first time in the history of college athletics, athletes are asking to be represented by a labor union. Formal steps were taken today to begin the process of college athletes being recognized as employees.
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“The action we’re taking isn’t because of any mistreatment by Northwestern,” Colter said. “We love Northwestern. The school is just playing by the rules of their governing body, the NCAA. We’re interested in trying to help all players — at USC, Stanford, Oklahoma State, everywhere. It’s about protecting them and future generations to come.
Chief Legal Officer of the NCAA, Donald Remy, responded to the actions taken this morning by saying “student-athletes are not employees within any definition of the National Labor Relations Act” and that there is no existing employment relationships between the “NCAA, its affiliated institutions or student-athletes.”
He went on to say that turning student athletes into employees would undermine the purpose of college, which is to get an education.
In a statement released earlier today Northwestern University said “Northwestern believes that our student-athletes are not employees and collective bargaining is therefore not the appropriate method to address these concerns, however, we agree that the health and academic issues being raised by our student-athletes and others are important ones that deserve further consideration.”
These actions by Colter and his fellow athletes comes off the heels of the Ed O’Bannon vs. EA lawsuit, which involved the NCAA as well.
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