Over 100 college women's basketball players join union effort - ESPN

More than 100 women's college basketball players have joined a unionization campaign with the United College Athletes Association, the organization announced Friday, making them the largest group of college athletes to formally push to collectively bargain with their schools.

The group is aiming to represent NCAA athletes across all sports and eventually form divisions for each sport to bargain separately. After more than six months of quietly building a base of women's basketball players, they launched a campaign Friday to expand membership.

The 100-plus players have signed union authorization cards to allow UCAA to represent them in collective bargaining discussions. They plan to start by attempting to bargain with individual schools as membership grows.

The UCAA announced that Oregon State's basketball team, where 10 of the 13 players have signed union cards, filed a petition Friday to be recognized as union members and to negotiate with the university.

«We want one voice,» said Oregon State senior Jenna Villa, the team's leading scorer last season and a member of the UCAA's 10-person interim executive committee.

Maryland senior Oluchi Okananwa, also a member of the UCAA's interim executive committee, said the organization would like to negotiate for better pay, safety mandates and academic protections but is focused for now on securing a «seat at the table» to advocate for the best interest of athletes rather than having the terms of playing a sport in college dictated to them.

«We are professional athletes,» Okananwa told ESPN. «Although the NCAA begs to differ, we are employees.»

The NCAA and many of its members have adamantly opposed several efforts for college athletes to be viewed as employees, a necessary step