A Union of Northwestern University Football Players
On March 26th the Chicago regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (“ the Board”) agreed that 55 scholarship football players of Northwestern University can be represented by a union for purposes of collective bargaining. The 24 page ruling relies on relevant citations from the National Labor Relations Act as amended. The player’s petition argued grants-in-aid scholarship recipients meet the definition of employees under the act. The University argued the players were students or at best temporary employees not suitable for bargaining.
The Board opinion included an extensive explanation and statement of facts. The scholarship players received $61,000 a year worth of tuition, fees, books, plus room and board in exchange for signing a written document defining their duties and responsibilities. Contracts apply to one year at a time and players can be let go at anytime if they do not play as well as expected or follow the rules. They have to sit out a year to play at another college.
Scholarship players are under strict and exacting control by their employer throughout the calendar year. The work year starts with training camp six weeks before the academic year with the coaches preparing daily hour by hour itineraries that start as early as 5:45 a.m. and go into the evening watching films, after which they are expected to be in bed. Once the season starts activities like practices, meetings, film sessions, workouts and week end games cover 40 to 50 hours per week. There are January workouts, a “winning edge” program in February prior to spring football and summer strength training.
Given the facts cited above the board concluded scholarship players at Northwestern University and by inference the NCAA meet the definition of an employee under the National Labor Relations Act: “a person who performs services for another under a contract of hire, subject to the other’s control or right of control, and in return for payment.” The Regional Board wrote pages of detail describing the work of Northwestern football players to make it difficult to deny their conclusion.
Northwestern and the NCAA oppose the decision. The NCAA frets that a union might harm non-revenue generating sports, especially women’s sports. However, they do not cite athletic department budget figures that would show how much of the football money goes to football facilities, coaching salaries and administrative and recruiting costs and how much goes to say, Women’s lacrosse.
The nature of the public discussion implies that players need a lawyer and the government to help them organize a union, but the NLRA rewrites and rewords rights everyone has always had, at least since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Rights of free speech and free assembly in the first amendment assure the rights to bargain collectively with representatives of our own choosing and the right to withhold work in a strike and to peaceable protest by picketing.
With or without the NLRA it will be hard for Northwestern University Players to organize a union. Players will confront a rich and well-organized cartel, the NCAA. Cartel rules that cap player expenses across many colleges and conferences make their total value enormous relative to a single school like Northwestern University. Organizing at one or a few schools would be easy to defeat; the NCAA would suspend a school violating cartel rules and blacklist the players. The losses would be trivial compared to threats to the cartel. To have a chance of success the union would need to organize many players across many schools. Organizing many would pose a significant financial threat to the cartel, but poses a nearly impossible organizing challenge.
The major league team sports all have unions to represent players, but college sports have more conferences, more teams and more players to organize. Players have only four years of eligibility, which guarantees rapid turnover of players and limits their time to hold out in a labor dispute.
The players could meet together and form their own union if they are unified enough to call for a meeting with coaches and officials to air their grievances. If their grievances are brushed off or ignored they could plan a measured show of solidarity like showing up late for practice before moving on to something more.
Self help organizing may sound quixotic and impracticable, but compare organizing a union under the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA). It requires a long process of filings to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and bureaucratic review to assure the union meets the terms and conditions of the law. The request to the National Labor Relations Board for a ruling on their status as employees barely gets the process started.
Before the National Labor Relations Act labor disputes were private disputes, which often brought nationwide strikes and shutdowns in major industries. For decades employers would claim their employees were happy and contented and did not want a union. Employers were free to dismiss employees for union organizing or union membership. They could impose company union and force employees to join. After the National Labor Relations Legislation in 1935 labor relations became public policy to be administered by public agencies with legally defined powers over unions and a strong desire to prevent strikes and shut downs.
When employees or union organizers attempt to establish a union, the National Labor Relations Act requires management to bargain in good faith, but bargaining in good faith has been hard to define much less enforce. Hence the procedure of enforcement has tried to define good faith through hearings at the National Labor Relations Board to settle disputes.
Good faith obligates both sides to meet and make an honest effort to keep an open mind and settle differences, but the two sides only have to try to reach an agreement. After decades of hearings and written opinions good faith requires little more than going through the motions of sitting and talking or holding an initial position indefinitely. Despite years of rulings good faith, or not, rests on inference based on the mood or apparent state of mind of the parties.
The only help the Northwestern University football players will get from American labor law is a governmental interpretation of good faith bargaining. The National Labor Relations Act does not limit management rights, does not require agreements to end strikes or grievances; does not keep employers from hiring replacement workers; and does not limit management powers to discipline or control employees. Failure to act in good faith by an employer is an unfair labor practice, but there are no penalties for acting in bad faith. After hearings and delay the National labor Relations Board can order employers to follow the law and they can order back pay for those dismissed for union organizing, but there is little to deter more subtle forms of anti union actions.
As the matter stands the players have already voted, yes or no, to have a union. The results are not released as of this writing, May 13, 2014, pending a review and decision by the Washington office of the National Labor Relations Board.
The crude and heavy-handed exploitation of players in college football and basketball remains. In the major league team sports players have fought restrictions on their rights of free agency, but unlike college sports there was never an absolute dollar cap on their salaries. College players get their tuition and room and board and nothing else. The amount of money in college sports has gotten so high that independent commercial interests might organize a minor league for players ages 18 to 24. Generally a large commercial interest like the NCAA has to be challenged by another large commercial interest to bring some reforms. What happens after the Washington Board decision will be fun to watch, but do not expect a union to result.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
Jobs in Day Care Centers
A recent article in the Washington Post ["Math 101 for New Parents," WP, 1-10-14] reported the cost of a year of day care in many states exceeds a year of tuition at state colleges. The article cited Child Care Aware of America as a source of information. They publish annual expenses by state for child care centers and family care centers. Expenses are broken out for infant care, 4 year olds, and school age care for the two types of facilities.
While they do not report college tuitions the child care center expenses they report exceed $10,000 for 19 states; the average for the 50 states is $9,466.00. In Oregon, for example, the College Board gives in-state tuition at the University of Oregon as $9,767, compared to $13,452 reported as a year's expenses for infant child care. Expenses reported for 4 year olds and for school age children tend to be lower. In Oregon the expenses reported for 4 year olds dropped to $10,200 and to $5,028 for school age children. School age children need after school care rather than all day at least during the school year.
Licensed day care costs include rent, supplies, maintenance, toys-equipment, liability insurance, utilities but wages for staff make up the biggest share of a day care program budget. The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms staffing information also reported on the Child Care Aware website. Both report that three occupations account for 76 to 80 percent of employment at child care centers: preschool teachers, teacher assistants and childcare workers.
Preschool teachers have the highest median wage of the three occupations at $27,570 in 2013, up from $22,680 in 2006. The increase of wages exceeds the rate of inflation by enough to raise buying power by 5 percent over the 8 year period. States do not require a BA degree or teacher certification for the lead teacher in a pre-school. Training hours in early childhood education or child development activities are required in 19 states, but 31 states allow a high school education or less than high school as training for a preschool teacher. The low entry requirement to work in day care makes it unnecessary to compete with the public schools for certified teachers and assures a large pool of labor to help keep wages low.
Teacher assistants have a median wage of $24,000 in 2013, up from $20,740 in 2006. To have the buying power of 2006 in 2013 the wage would need to be $23,965, which makes $24,000 a tiny increase in buying power for teacher assistants for the 8 year period.
Child care workers make up a little over 30 percent of staffing but they have the lowest wages of the three occupations with a median wage of $19,700. To have the buying power of the 2006 median wage of $14,630 in 2013, the median wage would need to be $20,372. Instead it was $19,700 a 3.8 percent decline in buying power over the 8 years.
State licensing rules limit the number of children per staff, the child to staff ratio. For children in infant care some states allow 6 children per staff in; some states allow only 3 per staff. The ratio goes up for older children. For school age children the maximum for some states is 25 per staff; the low for others is 9.
With six to one staff 30 children in infant care need to have one lead teacher and four other staff ready to assist suggesting payroll expenses of $127,644 a year that allows for 20 percent extra to pay Social Security taxes, workman’s compensation and so on. [i.e. ($27,570 + 4 x $19,700)*1.2 = $127,644 ] A day care center with 30 children and the average charge of $9,644 can generate revenue $284,000, and over $400,000 with charges like Oregon. The difference of revenue and payroll suggests an adequate margin for expenses and maybe a little extra.
Some of the revenue paid to day care centers comes from the Child Care Development Block Grant program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), the Clinton Administration replacement for welfare, but Child Care Aware of America reports 60 percent of revenues come directly from parents.
If a couple that both earn $45,000 salaries then social security and joint federal income taxes generates taxes of $19,338.75. Adding in the average day care expense of $9,644 brings the total to $28,982.75. If one stays home and the other continues at $45,000, taxes drop to $6,411.25 including a small child care tax credit of $250. When both work they are left with $61,017.25 when one works they are left with $38,588.75. Therefore $45,000 additional income from a second salary adds only $22,428.75 to net income and the difference of $45,000 - $22,428.75 equals the cost of working and paying for child care, which in this example is $22,571.50.
Child Care Aware of America tells website visitors they are the nation’s leading voice for child care. They also write “A major hidden funding source for child care subsidies are the teachers in child care centers and family child care homes. . . . In effect, the low wages of the early care and education workforce serve as a subsidy for parents.”
It’s nice they are honest, but those working do earn enough to be self supporting. High prices and low wages are getting to be an old story in American job markets.
While they do not report college tuitions the child care center expenses they report exceed $10,000 for 19 states; the average for the 50 states is $9,466.00. In Oregon, for example, the College Board gives in-state tuition at the University of Oregon as $9,767, compared to $13,452 reported as a year's expenses for infant child care. Expenses reported for 4 year olds and for school age children tend to be lower. In Oregon the expenses reported for 4 year olds dropped to $10,200 and to $5,028 for school age children. School age children need after school care rather than all day at least during the school year.
Licensed day care costs include rent, supplies, maintenance, toys-equipment, liability insurance, utilities but wages for staff make up the biggest share of a day care program budget. The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms staffing information also reported on the Child Care Aware website. Both report that three occupations account for 76 to 80 percent of employment at child care centers: preschool teachers, teacher assistants and childcare workers.
Preschool teachers have the highest median wage of the three occupations at $27,570 in 2013, up from $22,680 in 2006. The increase of wages exceeds the rate of inflation by enough to raise buying power by 5 percent over the 8 year period. States do not require a BA degree or teacher certification for the lead teacher in a pre-school. Training hours in early childhood education or child development activities are required in 19 states, but 31 states allow a high school education or less than high school as training for a preschool teacher. The low entry requirement to work in day care makes it unnecessary to compete with the public schools for certified teachers and assures a large pool of labor to help keep wages low.
Teacher assistants have a median wage of $24,000 in 2013, up from $20,740 in 2006. To have the buying power of 2006 in 2013 the wage would need to be $23,965, which makes $24,000 a tiny increase in buying power for teacher assistants for the 8 year period.
Child care workers make up a little over 30 percent of staffing but they have the lowest wages of the three occupations with a median wage of $19,700. To have the buying power of the 2006 median wage of $14,630 in 2013, the median wage would need to be $20,372. Instead it was $19,700 a 3.8 percent decline in buying power over the 8 years.
State licensing rules limit the number of children per staff, the child to staff ratio. For children in infant care some states allow 6 children per staff in; some states allow only 3 per staff. The ratio goes up for older children. For school age children the maximum for some states is 25 per staff; the low for others is 9.
With six to one staff 30 children in infant care need to have one lead teacher and four other staff ready to assist suggesting payroll expenses of $127,644 a year that allows for 20 percent extra to pay Social Security taxes, workman’s compensation and so on. [i.e. ($27,570 + 4 x $19,700)*1.2 = $127,644 ] A day care center with 30 children and the average charge of $9,644 can generate revenue $284,000, and over $400,000 with charges like Oregon. The difference of revenue and payroll suggests an adequate margin for expenses and maybe a little extra.
Some of the revenue paid to day care centers comes from the Child Care Development Block Grant program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), the Clinton Administration replacement for welfare, but Child Care Aware of America reports 60 percent of revenues come directly from parents.
If a couple that both earn $45,000 salaries then social security and joint federal income taxes generates taxes of $19,338.75. Adding in the average day care expense of $9,644 brings the total to $28,982.75. If one stays home and the other continues at $45,000, taxes drop to $6,411.25 including a small child care tax credit of $250. When both work they are left with $61,017.25 when one works they are left with $38,588.75. Therefore $45,000 additional income from a second salary adds only $22,428.75 to net income and the difference of $45,000 - $22,428.75 equals the cost of working and paying for child care, which in this example is $22,571.50.
Child Care Aware of America tells website visitors they are the nation’s leading voice for child care. They also write “A major hidden funding source for child care subsidies are the teachers in child care centers and family child care homes. . . . In effect, the low wages of the early care and education workforce serve as a subsidy for parents.”
It’s nice they are honest, but those working do earn enough to be self supporting. High prices and low wages are getting to be an old story in American job markets.
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