Resting on top of a big-screen television in Ramogi Huma's sparsely decorated apartment is a school-issued commemorative helmet tethered to a chunk of polished wood, with the most ironic of inscriptions on a gold plaque. It reads:
UCLA Sr. Award
1999
Presented to
RAMOGI HUMA #36
With Deep Appreciation
For a Job Well Done
The word "job" no doubt was not meant to be taken literally, nor does Huma take the position -- as chairman of the Collegiate Athletes Coalition -- that athletes are technically workers. Over the years, state and federal courts have consistently held that college players are not employees.
|  | | Jason Stephens says he devotes 30 hours a week to UCLA football. |
But the United Steelworkers of America are encouraged that a recent labor ruling eventually could shake that long-held bedrock of the NCAA economic structure.
In a decision that had nothing to do with sports but could be applied to any future case involving athletes, the National Labor Relations Board in October ruled that graduate assistants at New York University are allowed to unionize because the services they provide the school make them employees.
The school had contended that they were merely students. The board rejected that argument, saying the relationship between NYU and its grad assistants, who teach and provide research, is "indistinguishable from a traditional master-servant relationship." It also said the financial aid they receive is a form of payment, just as if they were receiving a salary.
"Take a little pencil and cross out 'teaching assistant' and put in 'student-athlete,' and it applies to athletes," said Gary Roberts, a Tulane law professor and expert on NCAA liability. "It's very hard to say with a straight face that the relationship that a university has with student-athletes is any different than that with a grad assistant."
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MARVIN MILLER'S TAKE
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Athletes benefiting from the experience of Steelworkers leadership isn't new -- former union lawyer Marvin Miller once made the Major League Baseball Players Association into the most powerful of its kind in sports.
Now retired, Miller said college athletes will be "terribly handicapped" in prying better benefits from the NCAA and its member schools unless they get a court to declare them employees, not just students.
"They're not covered by labor laws," he said. "There's no duty on the part of athletic departments to meet and negotiate."
Still, as a good-faith gesture, the NCAA could be brought to the table if enough athletes band together and speak with a collective voice about their issues, he said.
"I wouldn't bet against this," Miller said of the CAC. "There's a lot involved. At some point, they may go to more than just the Steelworkers. Imagine the whole labor movement getting behind this."
Dave Meggysey, Western Director for the NFL Players Association, said he would encourage his union to offer support if the CAC approached his organization. In the past, the NFLPA helped players from the Arena Football League and Major League Soccer in their attempts to organize.
-- Tom Farrey
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Still, Roberts believes it would be tough for a group of athletes to win such a case because the NCAA and the rest of the college sports industry would lobby heavily against it.
"College sports are so ingrained in society that we refuse to give up the ghost of that (amateur athlete) myth," Roberts said. "To declare them employees would be an assault on an institution that would cause such a hue and cry that it probably would never go through."
The NLRB is even more susceptible than the courts to political pressure because its members are appointed by the President, to five-year terms, Roberts noted.
Steelworkers president Leo Gerard, whose union is advising the Collegiate Athletes Coalition, acknowledges the complicated nature of such a petition. He calls the recent ruling an "evolving piece of law." But he says the union will be paying attention.
"We're not looking at this point to actually have them become members of our union," Gerard said. "That's not to say that in the long run, if that was to happen, that we would reject it. At this point, we just want to help them organize themselves to make some changes to improve the quality of their lives."
Jason Stephens, a UCLA safety, said football sometimes feels like a job because he must commit about 30 hours a week to the sport while still trying to be a full-time student. Football is an important source of revenue at UCLA, generating $13.2 million last year in revenue with expenses of $7.6 million, according to the school.
An average scholarship for in-state players like him costs UCLA $12,358. For out-of-state athletes, it's $22,972.
"Granted, I love to play the game and for the most part it's why I'm here," he said. "But it does take a toll on you, physically and mentally."
Tom Farrey is a Senior Writer with ESPN.com. He can be reached at tom.farrey@espn.com.
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