Northwestern Football Union: Team Will Not Have Chance to Unionize, NLRB Rules Unanimously

In a unanimous decision, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overruled their local chapter's decision to allow the Northwestern University football team to form a union.

Central to the March 2014 decision from the NLRB's Chicago office was whether or not the student-athletes could be considered employees. The NLRB's ruling did not decide on this matter either way and allowed for future consideration of unions in collegiate athletics, The Chicago Tribune reported.

"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). 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," the NLRB said in a statement announcing their decision. "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.

"This decision is narrowly focused to apply only to the players in this case and does not preclude reconsideration of this issue in the future."

In other words, the NLRB decided this was not a matter they could do anything for, since the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is made up of both public and private institutions.

A former football player at UCLA, Ramogi Huma formed The College Athletes Players Association (CAPA) in Jan. 2014 and enlisted Kain Colter, who was playing quarterback for Northwestern at the time, to help try and form a union on his team. The Tribune learned Huma and the CAPA do not plan to appeal the NLRB's decision.

After the NLRB Chicago office ruled in their favor, the Northwestern football team voted on whether or not they should form a union under the CAPA. Those results were sealed until the NLRB's national office returned its decision and will now be destroyed without being viewed given the outcome.

Northwestern University came out against the football team's movement and commended the NLRB for its ruling. Both the administration and athletic department sided against the players while also offering some praise for showing initiative and standing up for themselves. The school simply disagreed with the players' method.

"Our young men chose to attend Northwestern to compete on the field at the highest level, earn a world-class education and prepare for the rest of their lives," Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald said in the school's statement. "They have displayed maturity beyond their years through this process, and the experience has unquestionably brought us closer together as a football family."