This is big.
Jennifer Abruzzo, the general counsel at National Labor Relations Board, just issued a memo arguing that college athletes are workers and thus eligible to unionize:
Here we go: Biden’s new general counsel at the NLRB, Jennifer Abruzzo, has just released a memo arguing that college athletes are workers eligible to unionize. She also says misleading them to believe otherwise is a violation of the NLRA. Full memo: https://t.co/NPvmhZ52cW
— Dave Jamieson (@jamieson) September 29, 2021
One of President Biden’s first moves in office was to clean house at the NLRB:
President Biden expelled another Trump NLRB appointee: Biden fired the second-highest-ranking attorney at the National Labor Relations Board a day after ousting her superior. https://t.co/W1glmRek9K
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 22, 2021
AndnAbruzzo was confirmed 51-50 in the Senate with VP Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote back in July:
51-50: Vice President Harris cast her EIGHTH tie-breaking vote in her six months in office to confirm Jennifer Abruzzo to be National Labor Relations Board General Counsel. She now has broken as many Senate tie votes as VP Dick Cheney did in 8 years. https://t.co/Wlau9cdtjb pic.twitter.com/mbxR7LdDGE
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) July 21, 2021
Prior to the NLRB, she was at the Communication Workers of America union:
Biden has tapped Jennifer Abruzzo, an attorney with the Communication Workers of America, to become the federal labor board’s top cop https://t.co/EY4epDbNU4
— POLITICO (@politico) February 17, 2021
Abruzzo also said she “will pursue cases against schools that misclassify players as ‘student-athletes,’ on the grounds that it creates a chilling effect and discourages them from asserting their rights”:
Abruzzo says she will pursue cases against schools that misclassify players as "student-athletes," on the grounds that it creates a chilling effect and discourages them from asserting their rights. So I suspect we'll be hearing that phrase a lot less from presidents and AD's: pic.twitter.com/r76THVXSwh
— Dave Jamieson (@jamieson) September 29, 2021
And the memo specifically notes that players have the right to address social issues such as Black Lives Matter:
Another warning for schools & coaches: Abruzzo says players have a right to address #BlackLivesMatter or other social justice issues without being muzzled, deeming such activism "protected concerted activity." i.e. it's workers banding together to improve their working conditions pic.twitter.com/9Q6CJ11UiU
— Dave Jamieson (@jamieson) September 29, 2021
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