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| NLRB Ruled Against the Unionization of Northwestern Players |
The football players of the Northwestern will not be able to make any attempt to unionize. The decision was made by the National Labor Relations Board on Monday which dismissed the petition. The five member of the national board was unanimous with the previous ruling which was given by Peter Sung Ohr, the NLRB regional director on March of 2014. In that ruling, the main two conclusions were that Athletic scholarships are equal as compensation with the exchange to work for the school and Coaches have total control over the athletes of the college. The NLRB also determined that if certification of players’ petition is made then the balance of the NCAA 2015 will be upset. The decision is regarded as a great victory for NCAA which was strongly supporting the appeal of Northwestern against the status of the employee.
In April 2014, ballots were casted by the Northwestern players to vote whether they will favor the union or not. The ballots were impounded immediately which kept the NLRB decision pending and the ballots will never be counted due to the recent verdict. Earlier the coaches and administrators of Northwestern urged their players to keep away from unionizing. But the ruling of the NLRB made on Monday did not make sure whether the Northwestern players are compared to employees or not. The board wrote,
"We address this case in the absence of explicit congressional direction regarding whether the Board should exercise jurisdiction. We conclude that asserting jurisdiction in this case would not serve to promote.''
In a statement the decision was praised by the Northwestern and they said they are happy with the players that they were able to bring the national attention on such important issues. But they also said they believe unionization is not the right method to add the problems which were raised by the student - athletes for playing College Football 2015. In a statement Pat Fitzgerald, the coach of the Northwestern said,
"My players displayed maturity beyond their years through this process, and the experience has unquestionably brought us closer together as a football family."
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