Down, set, unionize!

Today football players at Northwestern University outside Chicago will vote on whether or not to unionize. Ever since the Chicago office of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that college football players should be considered employees of the school they attend there has been pressure put on the NU players to vote down unionization.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald has been adamant in his opposition to the union effort. And why not? After all, he's part of the management structure. Of course he doesn't want the players working together to improve their working conditions and benefits. Such an action would mean he wasn't the Grand Poobah by the Lake. Unionization could mean an end to the program of "voluntary" off-season workouts in which anyone who volunteers not to be there is volunteering not to play in the fall.

Unionization might also mean that there would be a limit on the number of hours a week players could practice being that excessive practice time interferes with a student's ability to study and prepare for class.

University officials are scared to death of what might happen should the players vote to unionize. A yes vote today could usher in an era of better health care coverage for injuries suffered while playing for the university and for four-year scholarships instead of the current year-at-a-time scholarship that puts a player at the mercy of the coach.

Such measures could cut into the pool of money that Northwestern and other universities rake in from football and basketball. Now, to be fair, very few colleges have athletic departments that make a profit. In fact, many schools have to subsidize athletics by tacking on fees for the rest of the student body. Of course there is always a few million dollars to hand out to the coach. In many cases, the head football coaches at a state's public institutions are the highest paid state employees - underlining our screwed up sense of priorities.

The football players who are on the fence on this issue (and the ones who are against it) need to get their heads around the concept that there is power in numbers. While the coaching staff might not like the idea, if the players are united in their efforts, they will win in the end. These players are exploited by the school. While the NU athletic department brings in some $20 million a year as a result of the Big Ten Network, the players are the equivalents of unpaid farmhands who the program will chew up and spit out once they are no longer of any use.

For the vast majority of these players, their playing days will end with the final game of their senior season. They will then go off into the world with nothing but the education they received at Northwestern. They will be the ones stuck with the nagging medical issues left over from their time on the gridiron.

Our current sports media coverage has deified coaches and athletic directors at the expense of the players. Coaches are portrayed as field generals leading their troops into battle while the players are just the meat being led to slaughter. Watch a college football game and you will never hear a commentator talk about how coaches hold players hostage by threatening to yank a scholarship. You won't hear anyone talk about who's responsible for the long-term side effects of playing college football. You will rarely hear someone talk about coaches who refuse to allow players to transfer to another school.

Today is the day for college football players to fight back and tear off the shackles that hold them captive. This is the time for them to seize the moment. Today's the day we find out whether football builds character or just serves to crush dissenting voices.

UPDATE:

In a demonstration of just how powerful a group of workers can be, no one will be climbing Everest from the Nepali side in 2014 after Sherpas decided to walk off the mountain following last week's deadly avalanche. While the Sherpas on the mountain earn far more than the average Nepali, the government's decision to pay the families of those who died on the mountain a measly $400 brought to a boil tensions that had been simmering for years.

Maybe the football players at Northwestern should take a loot to see just what an organized group of workers can do when they act with the collective strength of the entire group.

Trouble brewing on the mountain

I read Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air a few years ago and was absolutely mesmerized by his account of the deadliest climbing season on record. But what really struck me is the way that the Sherpa guides are used to make it as easy as possible for would-be mountaineers to make the climb. The Sherpas go up the mountain first and set up base camps, ladders and ropes for the wealthy climbers to use on their ascent.

While the climbers each pay upwards of $50,000 (or more) to make the climb, the Sherpas, who risk their lives every season for the enjoyment of the monied class, make about $4,000 to $5,000 a season. The western guides, on the other hand, rake in up to $50,000 for piggy-backing off the work of the Sherpas.

The folks who pay through the nose for the opportunity to climb the mountain get all the glory for standing on top of the world while the Sherpas, who have climbed the mountain more times than most can count, are nothing but a footnote.

The exploitation of Nepal, its people and its mountain is rarely mentioned in polite company.

But that may change.

Last week, at the beginning of the climbing season, an avalanche struck Everest. The victims of Mother Nature were the Sherpas who were setting up ladders and ropes for the wealthy climbers. If you've ever read Into Thin Air then you can draw a mental map of where the avalanche occurred in the Khumbu Ice Fall - one of the most treacherous parts of the lower climb.

Thirteen Sherpas are known dead and three more are missing (but presumed dead). The tragedy has raised questions about the way Sherpas are exploited during the climbing season. In the aftermath of the deadly avalanche the Nepali government has made payments of approximately $662 to the families of each of the Sherpas killed in the avalanche.

The Sherpas are now hinting at possible strikes during this year's climbing season in an effort to raise wages and benefits.

The mountain expedition business puts about $3 million a year in the Nepali treasury. Everyone, it seems, is getting rich except for the folks who actually put their lives on the line for the benefit of wealthy foreigners who want to check off one more item from their bucket lists.

What a perfect metaphor for capitalism.