College athletes need to unionize: Opposing view
As the discussion on college athletes' rights takes center stage, I have yet to hear arguments that college athletes should be left to pay sports-related medical bills, lose their scholarships when they're injured or be subjected to unnecessary traumatic brain injury risks.
Despite false narratives in some news reports that players will seek salaries, it's safe to say that many Americans agree with the goals of the College Athletes Players Association.
Some believe there must be an alternative way to secure basic protections for college athletes without unionization. We know there isn't. We have exhausted all other options.
More than 17,000 Division I athletes joined an advocacy group I founded, and we've been seeking basic protections since 2001. We believed that exposing gaps in athletes' protections in NCAA sports would be enough to bring forth comprehensive reform.
Over the years, high profile players have spoken out in unity about the need for change. They've made headlines when hundreds of football and basketball players signed a petition to the NCAA and college presidents calling for reform. College football players fought for their rights during televised games wearing "APU" on their gear as part of the "All Players United" campaign in 2013.
When it became clear college presidents would not be shamed into reform, we sponsored "The Student-Athletes Bill of Rights" in California to mandate several protections. It passed in 2012 despite an army of Pac-12 university lobbyists trying to kill it. However, this bill died in every other state where it was introduced.
The NCAA and most conference commissioners raised the stakes by refusing to implement policies to reduce traumatic brain injuries and declining to meet with us in 2012 about this vital issue. Meanwhile, the NFL players union was able to negotiate important protections for its members.
College football is a multibillion dollar industry. Our advocacy over the last 13 years, and the protections players have in professional leagues, clearly demonstrate that the only way college athletes will secure basic protections is through a union.
Ramogi Huma is president of the College Athletes Players Association.