Northwestern Students Unionize

In April of 2014 the Northwestern University collegiate football players had voted (agreed) to pursue in the first unionization of college athletes ever. Earlier in March, the author says that, the National Labor Relations Board had agreed to hear Northwestern’s appeal that the players are university employees and that they can unionize. Supporters of the union say that it would help athletes obtain better compensation, medical care for injuries and other benefits.

The union that is being represented is being led by former quarterback of the Northwestern football team, Kain Colter. What Colter thinks is that with the union the college athletes are not going to be stuck with sports-related medical bills, do not lose their scholarships when they are injured, are not subject to unnecessary brain trauma and are given better opportunities to complete/obtain their degree. Colter had also helped the United Steelworkers union.  

SOURCE: http://a.abcnews.com

What I think from this union that happened earlier in the year of 2014, is that it was a good thing because it gives college athletes a chance to argue their points and what they think. A very valuable point can be argued that some football players are being cheated because some get injured and are made to pay for an injury or deal with it for the rest of their lives and not even have the chance to go professional. Also some players lose scholarships because of their career ending injuries. What it means by the union being recognized and passed by the National Labor Board is that the player can even argue that they deserved to be paid because they are basically  an employee of the university.

FUTURE RESEARCH: How do scholarships affect college athletes?