College Athletes Can Finally Unionize
In a landmark memo this week, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that athletes at private colleges are workers with the right to negotiate and unionize. Maybe the tide is finally turning against the NCAA's feudal-like conditions.
Montana Grizzlies forward Kyle Owens (0) during a college basketball game between the Montana Grizzlies and the USC Trojans on November 28, 2020 at Galen Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Earlier this week, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum asserting that athletes at private universities are employees with the right to negotiate and unionize. The updated guidance also states that it’s illegal for schools to retaliate against athletes who organize and that institutions could be targeted by the NLRB if they continue to use the term “student athlete.”
Abruzzo’s memo effectively reinstates a 2017 document issued by Barack Obama–appointed general counsel Richard Griffin — and rolled back under Donald Trump — but her memo goes further than Griffin’s. It’s a huge win for athletes hoping to unionize and for the broader cause of labor rights in the United States.
For years, despite athletes generating oodles of money for their schools without compensation, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has fought off every attempt to organize athletes. But even before this week’s decision, the cracks were forming.
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