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Should ncaa student athletes be considered employees
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For decades, student athletes have always been referred to as students, not employees. The current system now gives student athletes scholarships to pay for their education in return for hours practicing and competing for their institution. However, a movement stimulated by the Northwestern Football program was made at the beginning of this year to change this policy. The Northwestern Football Program wants college athletes to be represented by a labor union and to be labeled as employees.
To begin with, the Northwestern football players initiated the petition for all athletes to be able to unionize. Their goal is to be recognized as school employees, which would alter the economic and power dynamics for all college athletics. This undertaking began when a group of Northwestern football players led by former quarterback Kain Colter submitted signed union cards and a petition to be represented by a labor union to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal organization that recognizes groups that seek collective bargaining rights (Farrey, 2014).
The reasoning behind forming a union was that athletes generate money for universities through labor that school executive’s control. Playing sports is not a prerequisite for a successful academic degree, but it can be a hindrance to earning a degree. Furthermore, labor law tests suggest that student athletes are actually employees and there play is considered work (Hruby, 2014). “The National Labor Relations Board ruled that Northwestern football players are employees of the university and legally able to organize despite claims from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that athletes are students first” (Becker, 2014). This ruling meant the athletes would be tre...
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...ieved May 26, 2014, from http://therotation.sportsonearthblog.com/can-college-athletes-unionize/
Kirk, J. (2014, January 28). No, college football players aren't unionizing for pay-for-play - SBNation.com. Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/1/28/5354718/college-football-players-union-pay-for-play
NCAA How Do Athletics Scholarships Work? NCAA Public Home Page - NCAA.org. (n.d.). Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/how-do-athletics-scholarships-work
NCPA Mission & Goals. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://www.ncpanow.org/about/mission-goals
Strauss, B., & Eder, S. (2014, March 26). The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/sports/ncaafootball/national-labor-relations-board-rules-northwestern-players-are-employees-and-can-unionize.html?_r=0
These professors argue that student athletes, under common law and NLRB’s (National Labor Relations Board) employee criterion, do in fact fall under the classification of an employee (Cooper). Under common law, four tests determine if someone is an employee or not. Three of these rules are as follows: “(1) the right of others to control a person's activities; (2) whether that person is compensated; and (3) if that person is economically dependent on that compensation.” According to these guidelines the employer-employee relationship is plainly synonymous to that of coaches and student-athletes. For one, coaches have a significant amount of control over their student-athletes’ activities, two, athletic scholarship money is considered compensation, and third, student-athletes are highly dependent on these scholarships for their food, living, and education. Even after realizing that a student-athlete falls under what the law defines as an employee, we can agree that any D1 student-athlete who works upwards of 40 hours a week to perform at a high level of competition for the universities benefit is essentially working a full time job on top of school work
Salvador, Damon. “Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid?” 20 April 2013.Web. 18 May 2014.
College football has been a sport in American society for decades. Yet the players playing the sport are not receiving their fair cut of the prize. It has been debated whether or not college football players should get paid for playing. The supporters say that the players are not being compensated fairly and the non-supporters say that the education the players receive is payment enough. They also say that the universities the players attend are providing them with the basic necessities so they should not get paid. College football players should be paid though because they put their bodies at risk, make a lot of money for their school, and the play to entertain audiences.
This argument has reached its peak of debate when Northwestern University football players planned to form a union in order to receive some form of representation. Northwestern quarterback, Kain Colter, started this movement when he reached out to the President of the National College Players Association, Ramogi Huma. He said, “This is about finally giving college athletes a seat at the table. Athletes deserve an equal voice when it comes to their physical, academic, and financial protections” ( Farrey). Huma filed a petition to the office of the National Labor Relations board on behalf of the players of Northwestern. Besides this being the first move towards a labor union in college sports what’s important is that the athletes of Northwestern are not seeking unionization due to mistreatment by Northwestern. According to Colter, “The school is just playing by the rules of their governing body, the NCAA.” Also, this isn’t about just helping players at Northwestern. Colter expressed how he wan...
Recently college athletes have been granted permission to work, from the NCAA. Even with this permission, their jobs are still regulated. One regulation to the athletes working is that they cannot work for alumni of the school. The NCAA has this rule because they feel if athletes work for people with close ties to the school then they will be receiving special benefits while working. These special benefits include, (but are not limited to), athletes being paid while not at work and higher salaries then other workers doing the same job (Anstine 4).
Thomas, Brennan. "Pay for Play: Should College Athletes Be Compensated?." Bleacher Report. TBS, 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
The debate on whether college athletes should be paid to play is a sensitive controversy, with strong support on both sides. College athletics have been around for a long time and always been worth a good amount of money. This billion dollar industry continues to grow in popularity and net worth, while they continue to see more and more money come in. The student-athletes who they are making the money off of see absolutely none of this income. It is time that the student-athletes start to see some of this income he or she may by helping bring the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are many people who do not think this is in the best interest of the student-athletes or Universities, but that being said there are also many people who are in favor of the change.
Attempting to pay student-athletes as full-time employees would be almost impossible to pull off and difficult to do fairly. If athletes were treated as employees of their respective university or college the issues professional sports have would enter into the college game. Students could potentially strike and also schools with more funding could simply offer to pay athletes more than other schools could. Subsequently turning collegiate sports into smaller versions of their counterparts, money hungry professional sports, which is something I do not think anyone desires. Many people enjoy college athletics for the sole reason that the athl...
Eitzen, D. Stanley. "College Athletes Should Be Paid." Sports and Athletes. Ed. James D. Torr.
The payment of NCAA student-athletes will deteriorate the value of an education to the athletes. The value of an education for a young man or woman cannot be measured. It is our gate way to success as...
The NCAA prides itself as an organization dedicated to safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life. In order to ensure that participants are students first and athletes second the NCAA has specific rules pertaining to athlete amateurism. The requirements prohibit contracts and tryouts with professional teams, salary for participating in athletics, prize money, and representation by an agent. (Amateurism) These rules not only limit the freedom of the player but also put the player at risk of being taken advantage of due to the lack of a players union and illegality of employing an agent. Other aspects of the NCAA’s rule book have been under scrutiny as well. Marc Edelman, Professor of Law at Baruch College, wrote in his treatise: Why the NCAA’s No-Pay Rules Violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act that courts are now beginning to overturn certain rules that are deemed anticompetitive. This development is important because according to the Sherman Act “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherw...
classifies Division I football players as amateurs, not professionals, student-athletes, not employees, which is how colleges get away with paying them nothing.” In a way it is not fair with the players that are who are generating most of the profit to the team and the league, but more important is the fact that they are being offered a free education.
I believe that college sports should be considered a profession. Athletes deserve to be paid for their work. College athletics are a critical part of America’s culture and economy. At the present time, student-athletes are considered amateurs. College is a stepping-stone to the professional leagues. The NCAA is exploiting the student- athlete. Big-time schools are running a national entertainment business that controls the compensation rate of the players like a monopoly (Byers 1).
Published. Edelman, Marc. “21 Reasons Why Student Athletes Are Employees And Should Be Allowed To Unionize.” Forbes.com.
Many people view college athletics as a pastime, not a profession, and paying athletes would make these sports seem like a profession, not just a representation of the school (Sobocinski 289). The NCAA, and others who oppose compensation, believe in amateurism, the idea that college students should focus on academics first and athletics second (Amateurism 1). Also, they think student athletes are already receiving fair compensation for their work. College athletes receive full scholarships that cover tuition, fees, and books (How 1). Furthermore, these scholarships are granted for at least one year, in case a student suffers a sports injury, the student does not play as well as expected, or the coaching staff is changed (How 1). Some people argue that full athletic scholarships are enough ...