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Outline
I. Introduction
II. NCAA’s Big 10 Conference History
A. Who are they?
B. When did they start?
III. Definition Understanding
A. Labor Union by John Budd
B. Collective Bargaining by John Budd
C. Employee by Section 2(3) of NLRA
IV. NLRB Case: Northwestern University v. College Athletes Players
Association (CAPA)
A. Who/What is CAPA?
B. Northwestern University
C. Main points of the case
D. Decision
V. Where are they all now?
A. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
B. Northwestern University
C. Football Student-Athletes
VI. References

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Northwestern Football Student-Athlete Unionize Analysis
Introduction
Should college football athletes unionize? Is unionizing bad for football? What
can unionizing change for football players? These are just a few of the questions that
some of my avid college football fans asked after reading BrianBennett’s ESPN article,
‘Northwestern playersget union vote’. There are a lot of people out there that do not
understand the purpose of unions and why student football players need to unionize.
This paper will explain some history of the Big 10 Conference,a few definitions of much
needed understanding, and the Northwestern University v. College Athletes Players
Association (CAPA) case as well as some effects of the case.
NCAA’s Big 10 Conference History
The NCAA Big 10 Conference started at the beginning of the New Year in 1895
when leadersfrom six well-known universities,University of Chicago, Universityof
Illinois, University of Michigan, Universityof Minnesota,Northwestern University, and
University of Wisconsin, came together with the main mission to organize and develop
principles for the regulation of intercollegiate athletics (Big Ten History,2015). In the
beginning, it was named the Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association. The media
started to call it the “Big Ten (10)” in the early 1900’s but did not officially adopt the
name until 1987. For decades,the conference held its 10 university membership.
However,that changed in late 1989.
Pennsylvania State University, or
Penn State, became the Big 10’s
eleventh member on June 4, 1990.
The conference has slowly grown to
14 universities including Rutgers

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University,Maryland University,University of Nebraska, and University of Chicago,
which is better known for being one of the top research facilities in the nation.
The Big 10 officially sponsors 28 conference sports for men and women and
administers about $200 million in direct financial aid to almost 10,000 student-athletes
competing in intercollegiate athleticson 350 teams in 42 different sports (male and
female). Through the Big 10’s media agreements withBig Ten Network (BTN),
ABC/ESPN, CBS, and FOX, nearly 1,400 of its events are produced and distributed
nationally as well as globally, annually. BTN was announced in 2006 as the first
conference-owned television network in a 20-year agreement with FOX Networks.
Definition Understanding
In order to understand the basis of the National Labor RelationsBoard’s
Northwestern University v. College Athletes PlayersAssociation (CAPA) case, we will go
over a few very important terms,such as labor union, collective bargaining, and
employee. As per John Budd, a labor
union is a group of workers who join
together to influence the nature of
their employment (2013, pg. 4). In
other words, a labor union is able to
work for that group of workers as so
an individual worker does not feel over
powered by management and able to
voice his/her collective concerns in
order to enhance, not just the
business but their personal livesas well. Which brings us to the term of collective
bargaining. Collective bargaining letsrepresentativesof the employer and the employee

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negotiate the terms and conditions of
employment that will apply to the
employees (Budd, 2013, pg. 11).
Collective bargaining allows workers
and employers to reach a voluntary
agreement on a wide range of topics,
such as compensation, off days,
benefits, and even grievance
practices. These processes are called
“collective” because the opinion and well-being of the whole group (employees and
employers), or collective, is involved.
Lastly, as for the term of employee,described by Section 2(3) the National Labor
Relations Act (NLRA), an employee:
“include[s] any employee, and shall not be limited to the employeesof a
particular employer, unlessthe Act explicitly statesotherwise,and shall include
any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection
with, any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice, and who
has not obtained any other regular and substantially equivalent employment, but
shall not include any individual employed as an agricultural laborer, or in the
domestic service of any family or person at his home, or any individual employed
by his parent or spouse, or any individual having the status of an independent
contractor, or any individual employed as a supervisor, or any individual
employed by an employer subject to the Railway Labor Act, as amended from
time to time, or by any other person who is not an employer as herein defined”
(Budd, 2013, pg. 494-95).

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Now, the Railway Labor Act of 1926 is a federal statute recognizing the right of collective
bargaining in the railroad and airline industries (Budd, 2013, pg. 117). Otherwise, the
broad definition of an employee is that any and all persons laboring or have labored for
a company, basically.
Northwestern University v. College Athletes Players Association (CAPA)
Northwestern University v. College Athletes Players Association (CAPA) is a
National Labor RelationsBoard (NLRB) case. Former Northwesternquarterback Kain
Colter saw an injustice amongst his fellow football brothers. He enlisted the helpof
CAPA along with the United Steelworkers union to change the way football student-
athletes are dealt with,seen,and used in National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) sports.
CAPA is a labor organization established to assert student-athletes’ statusas
employees with the right to collectively bargain for basic securities. It was co-founded
by Ramogi Huma and Kain Colter in the early part of 2014 (Bennett, 2014).
Northwestern is a private university in Evansville,Illinois(Northwestern v. CAPA,
2014, pg. 4). It is one of the original universities to become a member of the Big 10
Conference back in 1895 (Big Ten History, 2015). So, Northwesternhas a strong
academicand athleticpresence in the higher educational arena for well over 160 years.
In its representation of Northwestern’s football student-athletes, CAPA saw to
show that the football players should be known as employeesof Northwestern, which in
turn would give them the right to unionize and collectively bargain for improved health
and safety, financial support, and other terms and conditions of employment
relationshipwith Northwestern, the Big 10 Conference, and the NCAA (Northwestern v.
CAPA, 2014, pg. 3).

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Mr. Colter states that football is a “year-round gig” at Northwestern
(Northwestern v. CAPA, 2014, pg. 5). Football players are not allowed to take classes
that interfere with practices, games, or any other scheduled activities. Mr. Colter also
says, “[players must] fulfill the football requirement and, if you can, you fit in
academics” (Bennett, 2014). The Playersreceive no academic credit for any of their
football program activities(Northwestern v. CAPA, 2014, pg. 35). Whatever the case
may be, Northwestern administrators are very adamant that their playersare students
first and foremost. Northwestern has one of the highest graduation ratesfor college
football players in the nation at around 97 percent (Bennett, 2014). If a player misses
any of those scheduled events, his scholarshipmay be taken from him.
An athletic scholarshipcan equal a little over $61,000 per year, which covers
tuition, fees,room, board, and books (Northwestern v. CAPA, 2014, pg. 22). Playersalso
receive a cash stipend of about $14,000 for meals. Athletes are allowed to receive an
athleticscholarshipas well as federal Pell Grantsthat exceed the full cost of attendance
(COA) totaling $61,193 for academicyear 2013-14, as where non-athletes are not
permitted to do so. CAPA attorneysargued that college football is a commercial
enterprise that relies on players’ labor to generate billions of dollars in revenues,which
in turn makes the relationshipof schools to players one of employers to employees
(Bennett, 2014).
NLRB regional director Peter Ohr notated in his decision that “the extensive and
undisputed record shows that Northwesternscholarshipfootball players are
“employees” within the meaningof Section 2(3) of the NLRA” (Northwestern v. CAPA,
2014, pg. 55). Mr. Colter said that this decision is “an opportunity to make things right
and stick up for future generationsand makeup for the wrongs of past generations”
(Bennett, 2014). Northwestern, the Big 10 Conference, and the NCAA all strongly

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disagreed with Director Ohr citing it would hurt college sports in numerous ways, such
as lockouts or strikes.
Where are they all now?
Northwestern filed a Request for Review of the Regional Director’s Decision
and Direction of Election directly after Director Ohr’s decision. In a unanimous
decision of the five-member NLRB on the 17th of August, 2015, dismissed the
petition of the football players who were seeking to unionize (Strauss, 2015).
The NLRB effectively states that it cannot assert jurisdiction on this case
(Northwestern v. CAPA, 2015, pg. 6). The five-member board exclaims that the
NLRA gives the NLRB power over private industry and Northwestern is the only
private university in the other 13 public universities membership of the Big 10
Conference. As Mr. Huma declares, “[i]t’s notable [the NLRB] didn’t rule that
players aren’t employees” (Strauss, 2015). Since the Northwestern players vote
whether to certify the union last April, those ballots were impounded pending
this ruling. The ballots will not be counted.
In spite of this, NCAA has changed its governance structure to allow an
increase in the value of athletic scholarships and a four-year guarantee. Many
conferences and universities have started to offer a more comprehensive health
care package, including Northwestern.

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References
Bennett, B. (2014, MAR 26). Northwestern Players get Union Vote.
ESPN.com. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/
id/10677763/northwestern-wildcats-football-players-win-bid-unionize.
(Accessed 21 OCT 2015).
Big Ten History. (2015, JUL). CBSi Advance Media. Retrieved from http://www.
bigten.org/trads/big10-trads.html. (Accessed 7 NOV 2015).
Budd, J. W. (2013). Labor Relations: Striking a Balance,4th Edition. New York
City, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Northwestern University v. College Athletes PlayersAssociation (CAPA). (2014,
APR 24). NLRB No. 13-RC-121359.
Northwestern University v. College Athletes PlayersAssociation (CAPA). (2015,
AUG 12). NLRB No. 13-RC-121359.
Strauss, B. (2015, AUG 17). N.L.R.B. Rejects Northwestern Football Players’
Union Bid. The New York Times Company. Retrieved from http://www.ny
times.com/2015/08/18/sports/ncaafootball/nlrb-says-northwestern-
football-players-cannot-unionize.html?_r=0. (Accessed 14 NOV 2015).