Dartmouth men’s basketball votes to unionize; what does that mean for college sports?

The Dartmouth men’s basketball team voted Tuesday to unionize — the first Division I college athletics team to hold a public unionization effort.

While historic, the move is likely months away from directly impacting other college athletic programs as an appeals process works its way through the National Labor Relations Board, the independent agency that enforces U.S. labor law related to collective bargaining.

The team voted 13-2 to unionize and authorized the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to bargain on their behalf. A powerful and politically connected organization, the SEIU represents nearly 2 million employees over 100 occupations. The team is expected to present a list of demands, potentially including a student wage, more medical coverage and better treatment in a variety of team-related issues.

Such demands could spark players on other college teams to follow suit with similar efforts, charting a path for all college athletes to unionize as employees, legal experts say.

“It’s ironic that you have billions of dollars flowing through college football and it might be Dartmouth basketball that upends the system,” Gabe Feldman, a Tulane sports law professor and an expert on such NCAA matters, told Yahoo Sports in the fall.

“If the NLRB determines Dartmouth basketball players are employees, then there is a very strong argument that all private school DI athletes are employees, including walk-ons,” he continued. “The question then would be, ‘Does the NLRB determine that all of athletes, public schools as well, are employees?’”

Will Dartmouth’s men’s basketball team’s vote to unionize lead to sweeping efforts in college sports? (Andy Lyons/Getty Images) (Andy Lyons via Getty Images)

Tuesday’s election was the second such in the last decade of major college athletics. In 2014,…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-03-05 18:11:06

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