An effort to form a union and collectively bargain has begun in women’s college basketball.
The United College Athletes Association announced on Friday, July 31, that more than 100 women’s college basketball players have signed union authorization cards. Also on Friday, members of the Oregon State women’s basketball team filed a petition for union representation with the Oregon Employment Relations Board, which marks a formal effort to seek collective bargaining rights under state law.
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One of the leaders of the nationwide effort is rising Maryland senior Oluchi Okananwa, who was outspoken earlier this year against the SCORE Act, which would have given the NCAA and its member institutions antitrust protections and prohibited college athletes from collectively bargaining. The SCORE Act stumbled and an official vote in Congress was canceled. Now, many of the most powerful people in college athletics are rallying behind the Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan federal bill co-led by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Okananwa, an All-Big Ten selection for the Terrapins and former ACC Tournament MVP when she was at Duke, is serving as the interim president for the UCAA.
“We the players deserve more than promises. We deserve a seat at the table, meaningful protections, fair compensation, and a collective bargaining agreement that raises the standard for everyone,” Okananwa said in a statement. “This work is bigger than any one season or generation. We are building lasting power for the athletes competing today and those who will come after us.”
Other members of UCAA’s interim executive committee include LSU point guard Jada Williams, Oregon State senior guard Jenna Villa, Indiana guard Malia Samuels, Missouri guard Grace Slaughter, San Diego State forward Kennedy Lee, and recent graduates Charlisse Leger-Walker, Brooke Daniels and Destiny Howell.
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The Oregon State filing is a historic milestone for the movement because it’s the first time a group of women college athletes has formally sought recognition as a players’ union. And unlike previous efforts by football players at Northwestern, men’s basketball players at Dartmouth and the recent formation by football players at Stanford, they are doing this at a public university — meaning that whether members of the Beavers‘ women’s basketball team can become union members will be determined by state law, not federal.
To help these women’s college basketball players, the UCAA has also formed an advisory board that includes WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike, Elizabeth Williams and Cameron Brink. Oguwimke is the president of the WNBA Players Association and just helped shepherd players through a lengthy collective bargaining negotiation earlier this year.
“As women’s basketball players, we know that our game is growing exponentially, our labor is exceptionally valuable, and our unions can deliver transformational victories for past, current, and future generations,” Ogwumike said in a statement. “The bottom line is simple: college athletes deserve the same rights and protections as professional athletes.”
Other members of the UCAA Advisory Board include Jennifer Abruzzo, former General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board; Meghann Burke, Executive Director of the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association; Domonique Foxworth, former President of the NFL Players Association, as well as Bill Fletcher Jr., Garrett Broshuis and Jon Hiatt. Andrew Cooper and former Oregon State women’s basketball player Mikayla Pivec are the co-founders of the UCAA.
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Efforts by the UCAA to start a union in women’s college basketball began two years ago when a group of more than 120 players from the SEC and Big Ten signed a letter demanding a meeting with leadership from both of those conferences. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti refused to meet with the players ahead of the landmark House v. NCAA antitrust class-action settlement being formally approved last June
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More than 100 women’s college basketball players join union effort
