College Football Unions
Unions, the NCAA and Chicago.
The National Labor Relations Board ruled that football players on full scholarship at Northwestern University are more akin to employees than students and therefore should be able to unionize. NLRB regional director Peter Sung Ohr seemed all too eager to expand declining union influence. He noted that scholarships are tied to performance, players are answerable to the athletic department and their coaches above all else, and much of their lives are dictated by the football program. The ruling is interesting because, while unions rarely seem to make things better nowadays, the NCAA’s management of college football could certainly use some modifications. Put that together with a school in Chicago and there are bound to be some fireworks.