College athletes are not employees — they are student athletes and should be treated as such. This is why NCAA athletes should not join the effort of the Northwestern University football team to create a player’s union.

Last Tuesday, at a press conference in Chicago, Northwestern quarterback Kain Coulter detailed plans to form a player’s union among college athletes that would be labeled the College Athletes Player Association, according to a Jan. 29 Associated Press article.

The rest of the Northwestern football players are on board with the effort, which is being paid for by the United Steelworkers, the largest industrial labor union in America.

A petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Board for review. If accepted, the union will likely seek scholarships that cover all living expenses along with tuition, according to the article.

This initial demand is excessive and could lead to a situation where the union would lobby for a pay system that compensates every college athlete.

A compensation system for college athletes would be inconsistent with the standards of the National Labor Relations Board. The board stipulates that to qualify as an employee, you must bring revenue to your employer. Non-revenue athletes do not do this. Non-stars in revenue sports arguably do not either.

College athletes are also not part of a workforce in the traditional sense. They do not depend on a salary as a means of subsistence. They do not play a sport as a full-time job. They do take classes and get an education.

An athlete cannot play a sport for a school without being enrolled in classes at that school. Since athletes are full-time students, playing a sport is secondary.

Athletes should not seek compensation for a secondary activity that already provides them with benefits that many other students do not receive, like a free or discounted education.

Athletes are earning a degree that prepares them for life after collegiate athletics. Since most athletes will not play a sport professionally, this advantage is as valuable as any four-year compensation system.

College athletes cannot simultaneously be full-time students and full-time employees as professional athletes. They would have to be full-time athletes to justify forming a union and seeking benefits in addition to the ones they already receive.

 

Published on February 4, 2014 at 2:32 am

Contact: opinion@dailyorange.com