http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/n...ar-BBlOkvb

I was just about to post on this myself. It looks like the Board was concerned that collective bargaining would not work in an area with both public and private employers. Since the Board lacks jurisdiction over the public employers, it would be regulating only a small minority of FBS employing universities. it would put private schools at even a bigger competitive disadvantage than now exists. Sso, stability in labor relations would not be served.

So the players at Northwestern could still employ union tactics, right? Work stoppages/strikes?

Getting certified as a union by the NLRB presumably would have given them a much easier go of it -- with various protections and processes available to them immediately. But I think they could go forward acting as members of a union, trying to force the school's hand to improve their conditions. Don't know if it would be worth the sacrifices, though.

(08-17-2015 02:46 PM)JOwl Wrote:  So the players at Northwestern could still employ union tactics, right? Work stoppages/strikes?

I presume they are all free to refuse to practice or play, at which point the school would seem free to discontinue their grants-in-aid. From there, I suspect the court of public opinion would act much more quickly (in one direction or another) than any judicial body.

(08-17-2015 02:50 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(08-17-2015 02:46 PM)JOwl Wrote:  So the players at Northwestern could still employ union tactics, right? Work stoppages/strikes?

I presume they are all free to refuse to practice or play, at which point the school would seem free to discontinue their grants-in-aid. From there, I suspect the court of public opinion would act much more quickly (in one direction or another) than any judicial body.

From a legal perspective, union tactics by the players would not be protected. The NLRB specifically declined to find whether the players are "employees" such that they are not at this point entitled to the protections of Section 7 of the Act that allows them to engage in "protected concerted activity" without retaliation. So, the court of public opinion is the only forum where they could seek a remedy. Good luck with that.