UCLA Football Players Turn to United Steelworkers for Advice on Improving Conditions By WELCH SUGGS
The United Steelworkers of America is advising a group of current and former football players at the University of California at Los Angeles, who are organizing to fight for stipends, better health insurance, and job training from the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
"We put our bodies and even our lives on the line," said Ramogi Huma, a former Bruin who is now a graduate student at U.C.L.A. "Providing maximum protection medically for us is the least the N.C.A.A. should be doing, along with ensuring that those who do not go on to professional careers in football, almost 99 percent of us, get the support necessary to prepare academically for other careers."
The Collegiate Athletes Coalition is a registered student group at U.C.L.A., with Mr. Huma and a former swimmer listed as its leaders. The group wants to expand to other campuses and released a six-point list of demands at a news conference Thursday:
* Full health-care coverage during the off-season and to cover so-called voluntary practices. * Immediate coverage of medical costs for catastrophic injuries. (The N.C.A.A. already has an insurance policy covering catastrophic injuries.) * An increase in the N.C.A.A.'s life-insurance coverage. * An increase in athletics-scholarship funds to cover the minimum amount necessary to meet basic living expenses, as determined by each institution's financial-aid office. * Elimination of the restrictions on what jobs football players can hold and how much they can earn during the off-season. (Players now are limited to earning no more than $2,000 in off-season jobs during the academic year.) * Creation of an employment program designed to encourage academic achievement and aid graduating students in their pursuit of careers outside football.
According to Wayne Ranick, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers, Mr. Huma sought the union's help, and union representatives agreed to work with the group on an advisory committee.
"Working issues go far beyond economics, especially when we deal with health-and-safety issues," Mr. Ranick said in explaining why the union would get involved with athletes who are not employees of an institution. "They're at great physical risk, and are quite vulnerable, considering what the demands are."
The group is not planning any kind of strike, Mr. Huma said.
While the involvement of the United Steelworkers -- which also support Students United Against Sweatshops -- is new, several student groups have organized on their own and raised similar issues. Most prominent among them is the Student Basketball Council, which is sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.