CHICAGO (AP) — Calling the NCAA a "dictatorship," a
handful of Northwestern football players announced Tuesday they are
forming the first labor union for college athletes — one they hope will
eventually represent players nationwide.
Quarterback Kain Colter
detailed the College Athletes Players Association at a news conference
in Chicago, flanked by leaders of United Steelworkers union, who are
ending their organizing expertise to the effort.
Colter said the NCAA
dictates terms to its hundreds of member schools and thousands of
college athletes, leaving players with little or no say about financial
compensation questions or how to improve their own safety.
"The current model represents a dictatorship," he said.
CAPA’s
president, former UCLA football player Ramogi Huma, said it is an issue
of fairness for a game that generates billions "off the players’
talent." Not only don’t college athletes get paid, he said, but
scholarships typically don’t cover many basic living expenses.
For
now, the push is to unionize only applies to private schools like
Northwestern — though large public universities, which are subject to
different sets of regulations, could follow, said Huma, who is also the
head of the National College Players Association he founded in 2001 to
lobby for the interests of college athletes.
"This will be the first domino," Huma said.
The
effort will be closely watched. The NCAA has been under increasing
scrutiny over its amateurism rules and is currently in court, fighting a
class-action federal lawsuit in California filed by former players
seeking a cut of the billions of dollars earned from live broadcasts and
memorabilia sales, along with video games, and multiple lawsuits filed
by players who say the organization failed to adequately protect them
from debilitating head injuries.
NCAA President Mark Emmert and
others have pushed for a $2,000-per-player stipend to help athletes
defray some of their expenses, but critics say that isn’t nearly enough
and insults players who help bring in millions of dollars to their
schools and conferences.
Last season, Colter and football players
from Georgia and Georgia Tech had the letters APU — All Players United —
written on their gear during games as a show of solidarity in an effort
organized by the NCPA. At the time, the NCAA said it welcomed an "open
and civil debate regarding all aspects of college athletics."
The NCAA issued a statement Tuesday making clear where it stands on the athletes’ quest to form a union.

"Student-athletes
are not employees," NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said. "We are
confident the National Labor Relations Board will find in our favor, as
there is no right to organize student-athletes."
He added: "This union-backed attempt to turn student-athletes into employees undermines the purpose
of college: an education."
The
athletes’ first step is to apply for certification by the National
Labor Relations Board, specifically on behalf of the Northwestern
players. Later, the goal is to expand to include athletes at other
schools and in other sports.
The key issue the board must resolve
is whether the football players are employees as defined by federal
labor law, said United Steelworkers official Tim Waters. If they’re
deemed employees, he said, they would have the legal right to organize.
"It’s
crystal clear that college football players are employees," he said,
arguing most put in a 40-hour work week and create revenue, albeit not
for themselves. "Football players are not complaining. … They are
simply identifying this for what it is — pay for play."
Huma said there is no reason to believe the effort will end up downgrading the quality of college sports.

"Treating
players better is only going to improve the product," he said. "This is
not going to change what is all good in college sports."
___
Online:
NCPA: http://www.ncpanow.org/
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.org/
___
Follow Michael Tarm at https://twitter.com/mtarm
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.