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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Find us online @thedailynu
Football players ask for unionization By Alex Putterman
daily senior staffer @AlexPutt02
Senior quarterback Kain Colter is heading a group of Northwestern players seeking to be represented by a labor union, he announced at a news conference Tuesday morning. The effort, the first in history by college athletes, is backed by the National College Players Association and the United This will be the Steelworkers union. NCPA first domino president Ramogi Huma to fall. And it filed a petition will be a big to the National Labor Reladomino. tions Board on Ramogi Huma, behalf of the National NU team. College Players “It’s almost Association like a dictatorpresident ship,” Colter said of the NCAA. “We want someone who is going to be looking out for us.” Huma and Colter said an “overwhelming majority” of Wildcats players voted to sign union cards, thus asking for unionization. Thirty percent of the members of a given group must sign cards in order for the NLRB to consider their request. At the news conference Tuesday, Colter read a statement from NU’s players, explaining the group’s motivation for the historic action. “We Northwestern football players
“
are grateful for our opportunity to play football for a prestigious university and athletic program,” the team’s statement said. “However, just as other athletes who compete in multibillion dollar industries have done, we must secure and maintain comprehensive protections, but asserting the rights afforded to us under labor laws.” The unionization effort began last spring when Colter reached out to Huma for help gaining representation in attempting to improve conditions in which they play college sports. Colter publicly expressed his allegiance with Huma and the NCPA in September when the quarterback wore black wristbands with the letters “APU” — standing for “All Players United” — during NU’s Sept. 21 game against Maine. If certified, the entity representing the players would be called the College Athletes Players Association. The organization was created by Huma, Colter and former University of Massachusetts basketball player Luke Bonner. At first, CAPA would represent only FBS football and Division I basketball players at private universities, as public institutions are governed by separate state labor laws. Huma said revenue sports presented the “strongest argument” for increased rights for players. Huma said he hopes to eventually expand CAPA’s representation to all college athletes. “This will be the first domino to fall,” he said. “And it will be a big domino.” Huma said CAPA will initially push for improved concussion and medical protection, guaranteed scholarships and additional money to cover college attendance expenses.
Rohan Nadkarni/Daily Senior Staffer
‘ASSERTING THE RIGHTS AFFORDED TO US’ From left, former UCLA linebacker and National Collegiate Players Association founder Ramogi Huma, United Steelworkers political director Tim Waters, Northwestern senior quarterback Kain Colter and United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard. The four men held a news conference Tuesday to announce NU’s football players will be seeking to be certified as a union.
If the union is approved by the NLRB, members would be classified as “employees” of the university and receive benefits as such, including the ability to bargain collectively. CAPA and United Steelworkers allege football and basketball
players already essentially are university employees, given the amount of time they commit to athletics, the amount of money they bring in to schools and the fact that they are paid in the form of scholarship money.
Colter, Huma, and spokespersons from United Steelworkers used the term “college-athletes” in place of the usual “student-athletes,” because they believe » See CAPA, page 7
NU reacts to Obama’s address Sexual assault task force draws praise By edward cox
daily senior staffer @EdwardCox16
President Barack Obama delivered his sixth State of the Union address on Tuesday before a divided Congress ahead of November’s midterm elections. About 20 members of College Democrats gathered inside the McCormick Tribune Center to watch the address. Throughout the speech, the president asserted his power to carry out executive orders in front of Congress. The president’s commitment to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour drew cheers from some members of the group. He said women were hurt by “stagnant” wages because women earn less, on average, than men do. “To every mayor, governor and state legislator in America, I say, you don’t have » See ADDRESS, page 6
By ally mutnick
daily senior staffer @allymutnick
Annabel Edwards/Daily Senior Staffer
sixth time’s a charm Northwestern students watch President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. College Democrats held a viewing party in the McCormick Tribune Center.
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
Northwestern administrators praised the continued national attention on sexual violence prevention spurred by President Barack Obama’s creation of a task force to address sexual assault on college campuses. Obama addressed the high prevalence of sexual assault at universities in an address last week. He announced the creation of a task force, which includes members of the president’s cabinet, to research and decide the best practices for tackling campus sexual violence. The creation of the a task force is timely for NU. The University released earlier this month an updated policy on sexual
assault, which offers an expanded list of what constitutes sexual violence and a more detailed definition of consent. Additionally, a sexual assault was reported by a female student on North Campus this month, Daniel McAleer, the deputy chief for University Police, told The Daily on Monday. When the federal government prioritizes sexual assault response and prevention, it can spur more funding and stronger buy-in from students and university leadership, said Laura Stuart, coordinator for sexual health education and violence prevention at the Center for Awareness, Response and Education. “The direction that the president of the university takes impacts everyone,” Stuart said. “It’s such a huge help to have » See task force, page 6
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