AMERICAN LABOUR:

UNIONIZING COLLEGE SPORTS:

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Here is one that many people may not know much about-the situation of athletes in college level sports today. While you may think that athletes are vastly overpaid, the megastars are merely blips on a screen that conceals exploitation as the rule. Here, from the Working Families E-Activist Network is an appeal for help from the underclass of athletes.

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MARCH MADNESS-WHO PAYS THE PRICE ?:

The amount of money in college athletics is astounding.
Did you know CBS pays the NCAA more than $6 billion to air March Madness and that many coaches and administrators enjoy six- and seven-figure salaries? Meanwhile, college athletes are left without many basic protections.

So many high school athletes have a dream: a full-ride college athletic scholarship and the chance to hoist a championship banner. But too often, the reality doesn't live up to the dream.

Athletes who have worked hard to earn a college education often find that a "full-ride scholarship" doesn't fully cover their college expenses, leaving them scrambling to pay for their next meal or, even worse, trying to pay costly medical bills for sports-related injuries. Some even have their scholarships taken away without reason—all while the NCAA, college administrators and coaches cash in on their talent, hard work and dedication.

Tell the NCAA to match athletes' hard work and help them fulfill their dream.

College athletes, just like workers around the world, need to fight for their protections, but they do not currently have the right to form a union. Fortunately, that doesn't mean no one speaks for them. The National College Players Association (NCPA), an organization of 10,000 current and former college athletes, is working to change these injustices. The NCPA already has won significant victories for college athletes nationwide, but it needs your help to do more.

Today we call on you to speak out with the NCPA to help gain more protections for college athletes and make sure they get the education for which they've worked so hard.

Here's your chance to speak out to an industry that treats its workers without the respect that we all should have. Join the NCPA and sign a petition that will go to the NCAA and its top three corporate sponsors: Pontiac (GM), AT&T and Coke.

Let them know that a fraction of the billions of dollars
In solidarity,
AFL-CIO Working Families e-Activist Network

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THE PETITION:

Please go to THIS LINK to send the following petition to the NCAA.

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NCPA Petition:
College athletes generate billion of dollars a year and the NCAA should act immediately to implement policies that will provide these athletes with basic protections. With administrators and coaches enjoying six and seven figure salaries, it is unethical to subject college athletes to unnecessary physical, financial and academic risks.

Therefore, we, the undersigned are calling on the NCAA to adopt rules that will provide the following basic protections to college athletes:

1.Prohibit universities from refusing to renew a scholarship of a player that suffers a permanent injury in his/her sport.
2.Require schools to pay for any medical expenses resulting from sports-related injuries that an athlete would otherwise have to pay.
3.Allow universities to put their multiple year scholarship offers in writing.
4.Allow universities to offer scholarships up to the cost of attendance.

AMERICAN LABOUR:

THE RETURN OF THE BAD BOSS CONTEST:

Ever want to get the incredible story of your bad boss off your chest ? Here's how to do it, and possibly win a weeks vacation at the same time. The Working Families e-Activist Network has now opened their annual "Bad Boss Contest". Here's the details.

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No Bad Boss Is Safe‏
Do You Have the Worst Boss in America?
Share your story with us in our annual My Bad Boss Contest, and you could win a much-deserved vacation—far, far away from your bad boss!

Click here to share your Bad Boss story today.
The numbers are in on bad bosses—and frankly, it's a little scary.

This week, Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, is releasing a new report that reveals 15 million U.S. workers are suffering in silence under a bad boss. After polling workers nationwide, the report not only exposes their bad behavior—it also kicks off our third annual My Bad Boss Contest.

From today until Aug. 19, we're asking working people to expose the truth about their bad bosses. It's not just a chance to vent—you also could win one of two grand prizes if your story is rated the worst bad boss experience in the country.

So what are you waiting for? Click here to tell us your bad boss story right now.

You could win:
First prize: A week's free stay at a condo in your choice of more than 50 countries. You'll also get $1,000 toward airfare and other travel/trip expenses.
Second prize: A week's free stay at a condo in your choice of more than 50 countries and $500 toward airfare or other travel/trip expenses.

You wouldn't believe some of the stories we heard during last year's contest:
--There was the boss who forced an employee to stay in a burning building for 45 minutes to shut down office computers and lights.
--Another boss knowingly hired his employee's stalker, and laughed about it!
--There was even a boss who told an ailing employee, "This is not a good time for the company for you to be having cancer."

It's time bad bosses were held accountable for their bad behavior, so don't wait another minute. Share your worst bad boss moments, and you could win a week long getaway, airfare included, miles away from your boss. Click here to share your story now.
Sincerely,
Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
P.S. Don't worry—the contest is anonymous.