(03-27-2014 12:08 AM)NolaOwl Wrote:  

(03-26-2014 04:10 PM)OwlHOG Wrote:  This is the first step in a long process. Northwestern can file a request for review by the full NLRB by April 9, but the full board may opt to let the election proceed. If the election goes forward and the vote is for a union, Northwestern can file objections to the election with the full board. Assuming those are denied, Northwestern can refuse to bargain with the union, be found in violation of sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act, and then file an appeal with either the 7th Circuit or the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. The legal question whether student-athletes are employees under the Act would be looked at de novo by the appeals court. So, it may take years for a court to rule on whether the Regional Director's conclusion that student-athletes can organize under the National Labor Relations Act is a valid reading of the statute.

Excellent summation of the legal situation! Further, any decision of the Court of Appeals could be appealed to the Supreme Court.

As a labor lawyer, I view the Region's ruling with some alarm. If the student-athletes are employees for NLRA purposes, what about Title VII, the FLSA, ERISA, OSHA, Obamacare et al? We may be going down a slippery slope.

OwlHOG & Nola: Why does the NRLB jurisdiction not extend to public universities (many of which now get a rather small amount of their funding from their sponsoring states, just as many private universities receive large amounts of government funds, typically as academic research grants)? What organization has analogous has jurisdiction for public employee union issues?