Northwestern QB Kain Colter First Witness to Determine Potential College Athlete Union

CHICAGO (AP) — Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter is the first witness at a closely watched hearing to determine whether college athletes can form a union.

Colter testified Tuesday at a National Labor Relations Board hearing in Chicago that is expected to last three days.

Colter has said most of the team's 85 scholarship players support forming a union, though he has been the only one to step forward publicly. He is a senior who has finished his college career.

The pivotal question is whether college athletes qualify as employees and thus have a right to unionize.

A union would dramatically change the landscape of college sports, and the NCAA maintains that students are not employees. The bid is being supported by the United Steelworkers union.