Breaking the Law? Northwestern Football Coach Pressures Players Not to Unionize

Dave Zirin TheNation.com Blog
It takes an enormous amount of chutzpah for Fitzgerald to so strenuously oppose the efforts of his players to have a seat at the table when he is making $2.2 million per year and received a $2.5 million loan from the school upon signing his most recent contract. Yet Fitzgerald's stance is not only distasteful. It may be illegal.

labor

Pat Fitzgerald Urges Against Union

Adam Rittenberg ESPN
Northwestern players will vote April 25 whether to form a union after the regional director of Chicago's National Labor Relations Board office ruled last month that players are employees of the school and have the right to unionize. Coach Fitzgerald is prohibited from making promises to players about benefits they would receive if they vote against unionizing. He also cannot make any threats or interrogate players on how they will vote.

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Northwestern Union Reps Off to Congress

Tom Farrey ESPN
Ramogi Huma, president of the College Athletes Players Association, told "Outside the Lines" that he and Kain Colter, the former Northwestern quarterback, will be in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and Thursday for informational briefings with an undisclosed set of legislators.

Unionize College Football

by Samir Sonti Jacobin
The Northwestern University football team’s struggle to form a union raises the question of what it means to be a worker.
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