Football players at Northwestern University are seeking to join a labor union, according to the College Athletes Players Association, which wants to be the first union to represent college athletes.

The movement has been led by Kain Colter, a senior at Northwestern University, a pre-med student majoring in psychology with a 3.1 grade-point average. For the last two years, he has also been the starting quarterback for the university’s football team and a captain, where he has shown himself to be a leader.

It started slowly, with a handful of Northwestern players and others from Georgia and Georgia Tech, wearing “APU” (all players united) on wristbands.

Following the college football season, Colter took action. One of the classes he took at Northwestern was about the modern workplace. “We were talking about unions,” he recalled in an interview with the New York Times. “About the steelworkers’ union, and the professional sports unions. And the teacher said it was too bad you guys don’t have the kind of protections a union can negotiate.” By “you guys,” of course, the professor meant college athletes. The light bulb went on in Colter’s head.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Colter and the majority of his Northwestern teammates signed a petition to the National Labor Relations board for the right to form a union.

Of course a union seems far-fetched, but it is still a great idea. The NCAA has done an exceptional job of convincing America that college athletes are students, and therefore not employees. Today, the NCAA has become a commercial enterprise, generating billions of dollars off of the performance of its athletes. The most profitable college football team, the Texas Longhorns, holds a net worth of 139 million dollars. The players receive absolutely zero reward for their efforts. But it’s not just about the money that has players questioning the current system.

What is the difference between an employee and a college athlete? Employees have to work at specified times, often wear uniforms, do what their employers ask of them and get a paycheck for the work performed. I think college athletes meet the basic criteria of employees and then some. They have to show up for work (practice) at a specific time, wear uniforms and do what their employers (coaches) ask them to do. In fact, players are often required to do even more than employees.

In addition to the basics, they are also told when to go to class, when to study, when to go to bed and when to show up for games. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an employee as “one employed by another usually for wages or salary and in a position below the executive level” and defines an employee as “a person who works for another in return for financial or other compensation.” Employees receive compensation for their skills, and although college athletes may not technically be employees, they are recruited for their skills and paid by scholarship and other living expenses.

Do college players get hurt? Yes. Do employees get hurt on the job? Yes, but when employees are hurt on the job, they are covered by workers’ compensation, which covers medical costs, lost wages and often includes a settlement.

Some employees, like police and firefighters, are covered by a heart-lung provision, which means if a firefighter retires at age 50 and has a heart attack at age 70, it is often covered as a workers’ comp claim even 20 years later.

This is one of the main goals of the union, and not “pay for play”, which is the common misconception. “Players need to know that they will be taken care of if they are injured,” said Ramogi Huma in an interview with the New York Times. Huma is the president of the National College Players Association, which is aiding the Northwestern effort.

Guaranteed medical care is one of a number of issues that Huma thinks a union could help ensure. The ultimate goal would to be address problems relating to concussions sustained through football and address a form of aid to those who experience long-term effects as a result of head injuries.

It’s worth noting that neither Colter nor Huma is advocating that the players get paid a salary. “What we want is a seat at the table,” added Huma to the New York Times. “What college athletes need, more than money, is an organization that will push back against the all-powerful N.C.A.A. and their own athletic departments, which are so quick to throw their players under the bus at the first hint of a problem.”

Thanks to these players and the educations they received as athletes at Northwestern, a time may soon arrive when the exploitation of college athletes will end and they will be treated with respect they deserve. A

though Northwestern struggled to win on the field this year, these athletes are doing something more important.