Instead of officially coming to a decision on the legality of student-athlete unions, the NLRB merely declined to assert its jurisdiction in this specific case while dismissing the Northwestern players’ petition to become the representatives of their fellow student-athletes in collective bargaining scenarios.
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Why would players want to be considered employees and not good old-fashioned student-athletes?
According to a Labor Relations Board statement, the board did not determine if the players were statutory employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
The decision can not be appealed.
The NLRB also said that one program to collectively bargain for the rest of the NCAA would upset competitive balance.
Northwestern players cast ballots in April 2014 to vote on whether they favored a union.
The ruling was in large part based on the fact that Northwestern is the only school whose athletes have voted to unionize. But Monday’s decision did not directly address the question of whether the players are employees.
We emphasize that this case involves novel and unique circumstances. “The board is there to promote labor peace”.
But Meisburg said the way the ruling highlights the challenges of organizing sports at private and state schools means the board is unlikely to consider another union petition from a college team.
Former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, who was the driving force behind the unionization effort, agreed that the delay is “disappointing”, but praised his teammates for “standing up for justice” and bringing national attention to their grievances. “It’s a delay. In the meantime, players don’t have the leverage they need to protect themselves”. The players voted overwhelmingly to reject a union. “What’s gone on in the last year is night and day”.
“The welfare of our student-athletes is paramount here, and we’re very proud of that”.
In a statement Monday, chief legal officer Donald Remy pointed out numerous ways the NCAA has helped athletes including scholarships, free education for former players and meals.
“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”, the decision continued. If they say no to unionizing somebody… it must be a really bad idea.
That didn’t come about because athletic directors and coaches were suddenly concerned about the educational rights of their players. Athletes whose likenesses are represented – down to their correct eye color – in video games are entitled to precisely zero compensation, the subject of a class action lawsuit now underway. Alas, the NLRB declined to assert jurisdiction over this case.
The decision effectively overturns a 2014 ruling by an NLRB regional director that found the athletes meet the broad definitions of employees under federal law and thereby could form what would have been the nation’s first student-athlete union. It doesn’t have jurisdiction over state-run schools.
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The board’s ruling applies only to private schools like Northwestern. The NLRB said in past cases with pro sports it could regulate most or all of the teams.
