Catherwood LibraryILR School

The National Labor Relations Board declined on Monday to exert any jurisdiction over the case brought by Northwestern University football players who had been seeking unionization. The board did not directly address the players' central claim that they should be considered university employees, instead focusing on the impact of the petition on labor market stability as well as on N.C.A.A rules, one of which regards college athletes as primarily students. The ruling has been lauded by many in the college sports establishment; the NLRB's ruling delineated the problems that could occur with N.C.A.A teams who were not unionized, as well as the issues likely to occur with unionized teams whose terms conflicted with association rules. The NLRB, which traditionally oversees private entities, was also reluctant to exert influence in an area that involves many public universities. The College Athletes Players Association (C.A.P.A), which had supported the players, noted the board's reluctance to answer the employee question, and that future unionization attempts by other colleges and for other student positions (such as graduate teaching assistants and student janitors) were not out of the question.