photo courtesy of tom213

The Northwestern football players will now cast their votes for or against forming a union. I wrote about this union movement previously here. Only scholarship players may vote. The school has already appealed the NLRB’s decision that the football players are employees and may form a union. The appeal will be heard by the full NLRB board. The board is composed of Presidential appointees. See National Public Radio report. 

The head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, opposes the union. The starting quarterback and a senior running back oppose a union. So, perhaps the pro-labor forces will lose. But, since the appeal is pending, it may be years before we know how the vote turns out. The votes cannot be counted until the appeal becomes final.  

But, like all labor movements, the real change may occur indirectly. The NCAA has endorsed just last week a plan allowing schools to provide some additional benefits to the players.