Well, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has reversed the regional director in Chicago who had ruled that Northwestern University football players could form a union. The ruling from the national level found, instead that allowing union organizing could lead to imbalances in competitive football. See CBS news report. The ruling did not address the Chicago regional director’s finding that the players were employees for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act.

I previously wrote about this issue here and here. The unanimous five-member board in Washington, D.C. found that allowing the players to organize could lead to different standards at different schools. The national ruling cited federal caselaw that promotes stability and uniformity between management and workers.

Sure, but sooner or later, the schools will have to recognize these players are more employees than students. The movement is toward greater and greater renumeration for the players, not less.