College Athletes

College Athletes
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Labor unions are at least as old as the industrial economies and have been subjects of debate and controversy over long periods of time. Both sides agree that a union's objective is to advance its members interests and, therefore, exert pressures on employers for improved employment terms. However, controversy comes in when two issues become the centre of the argument (Bennet & Kaufman, 2011). First, the effects of unions that is their effect on performance, salaries and wages, welfare, and the workers. Second, involves judgment and evaluation that are; are unions beneficial for workers, are the methods they used for achieving their goals consistent, or is social welfare promoted by encouraging or discouraging unionism (Bennet & Kaufman, 2011). These arguments are the same ones facing the athletes at present and although changes are being made, there is evidence of continued opposition implying that the argument will still go on.
The National Labor Board in Chicago in the past month ruled that football players at the Northwestern University can unionize as they were declared employees and this is for the purpose of federal law. This finding was legal in nature and resulted from the fact that a majority of Northwestern football players had the desire to be unionized and represented by this union. With the help of the association of athlete players in colleges (CAPA), they filed a petition with the NLRB requesting to conduct an election to collectively bargain with the University (Shuler, 2014).
An article by Liz Shuler, the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, “Young People Understand Unions Can Solve Problems,” supports the unionization of college athletes. She further claims that the recent actions of the athletes in filling and winning the petition to receive benefits were remarkable and depicted a positive picture of the young people, higher education, and the role of unions (Shuler, 2014). The article discusses where the problem of receiving salaries originates from, how the universities are making money for these athletes, and what actions have been undertaken to address the issue.
The author is a labor activist and the only and youngest woman to hold the position of Secretary-Treasurer. She is historically the highest ranked woman in the labor federation and her election into office made it the first time two of the three positions of officers at AFL-CIO were held by women. Being the great labor unionist that she is, the article attracts many labor unionist and especially women who are inspired by her. In addition, since she supports formation of unions, the audience constitutes of athletes and other advocates for the unionization. This article takes a strong standpoint by from the beginning praises the actions of NLRB and praising the students who supported the unionization of athletes. She states, “The overwhelming maj...