Are you in favor of college athletes union? (VOTE at link)

[Omaha Steve]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=4152896&i=TWT&id=10680252&w=1dvn6&src=desktop&wjb

Are you in favor of college athletes union? (VOTE at link)

MAR 26, 2014 05:26 PM

In a landmark -- and to many, surprising -- moment, the Chicago district of the National Labor Relations Board ruled Wednesday that Northwestern football players qualify as employees of the university and can vote to unionize. The school will appeal, although ESPN's Lester Munson says it faces an uphill battle to win. Do you agree with the union movement? Are student-athletes actually employees? Cast your votes below!

Vote: Are you in favor of members of the Northwestern University football team attempting to unionize?

Vote: Do you consider college football players employees?

Vote: Will Northwestern's football team vote to unionize?

Vote: Should college athletes be allowed to profit off their own names?

Vote: Should college athletes be paid?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Yes

[clffrdjk]

3. Yes

[LittleBlue]

2. Yep

I always stand with unions

[frazzled]

4. I have mixed feelings

Probably related to the fact that I'm not a fan of college sports and I think they've gone over the top in terms of the attention and resources they get, compared to other functions of colleges and universities. (I also know they make big bucks and bring in alumni dollars and student interest.)

That said, I do think these players need protections: the number of hours they're required to devote; health and safety concerns; academic concerns.

But I don't know that they are employees. Or if they are, then they're not really students. And if they are, then should their scholarships be taxable?

What about other students on scholarship or work study? What about kids in the orchestra or theater productions who are required to put in many long hours?

I guess I want student athletes to have some structure for airing their grievances and bargaining for safety and training issues. I'm not sure what to call that structure.

(My husband totally disagrees with me: he's all for these kids unionizing. I hope Northwestern allows its graduate students to unionize: I was a graduate fellowship student who suffered untold overwork and abuse there many years ago. I had to do all the grading of nearly all the professors in my department, teach classes, and had little time to fit in my own research and work. I could have used it. I was so beaten down I never completed my Ph.D., even after completing orals. It just soured me on academics.)

[Vashta Nerada]

5. I support unions, but in this case, absolutely not.

College is about learning, not for athletes to use as a stepping stone to professional sports. Colleges need to go back to being institutes of higher learning.

[davidn3600]

6. Not sure yet

I generally support unions, but this isn't a typical situation. It's not professional sports and its also not a traditional work environment. A lot of questions need to be answered like would compensation be an issue and if so that can get rather controversial in a number of ways. How would it effect athletes in sports that don't draw in much money? How would it effect female athletes? etc, etc...

There is a lot of questions that need to be answered before you can really form an opinion here.