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College football athletes seek to gain union status for first time ever

CHICAGO – The College Athletes Player Association (CAPA) has submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board to assert the labor rights of Northwestern University football players. If successful, athletes across the nation could eventually establish a national players association that will fight what the organization calls “unjust NCAA rules”.

According to CAPA, in its continued support for college athletes’ rights, the United Steelworkers has agreed to provide CAPA with resources necessary to pursue this course of action by paying the legal team that will be representing CAPA before the National Labor Relations Board to prove that the National Labor Relations Act covers college athletes.

“We’re asking for a seat at the table to get our voice heard,” Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter said Tuesday via social media.  He met with his head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, Tuesday morning, to explain his pursuit of greater rights for college football athletes.

CAPA says it will ultimately allow players to collectively bargain for comprehensive reform. Some of the goals CAPA lists on it website are:

– Guaranteed coverage for sports-related medical expenses for current and former players.
– Minimizing the risk of sports-related traumatic brain injury. Reduce contact in practices like the NFL and Pop Warner have done, place independent concussion experts on the sidelines, and establish uniform return to play protocols.
– Improving graduation rates. Establish an educational trust fund to help former players complete their degree and reward those who graduate on time.
– Consistent with evolving NCAA regulations or future legal mandates, increasing athletic scholarships and allowing players to receive compensation for commercial sponsorships.
– Securing due process rights. Players should not be punished simply because they are accused of a rule violation, and any punishments levied should be consistent across campuses.
– CAPA will give college athletes a seat at the table to secure much needed protections.

ESPN reported that The NCAA, in a statement from Chief Legal Officer Donald Remy on Tuesday, said “student-athletes are not employees within any definition of the National Labor Relations Act” and that there is no existing employment relationships between the “NCAA, its affiliated institutions or student-athletes. This union-backed attempt to turn student-athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college: an education. Student-athletes are not employees, and their participation in college sports is voluntary. We stand for all student-athletes, not just those the unions want to professionalize.”

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