Feds: College Athletes Can't Unionize

The National Labor Relations Board ruled Monday that Northwestern University football players cannot form a union, effectively deciding that athletes are students, not employees. The board unanimously overturned a March 2014 decision by a regional NLRB director in favor of the players. That decision considered students to be employees on the grounds that athletic scholarships were compensation and said coaches were akin to managers. The NLRB said that considering college athletes employees “would not promote uniformity and stability in labor relations” so therefore they would remain students. “We cannot appeal it or challenge it further,” said a lawyer for the players. “It's kind of definitive at that point, although it depends on what they exactly say.”