In a groundbreaking move, Dartmouth College’s men’s basketball team members have voted to unionize, marking a first for college athletes in the United States. The vote, which ended with a 13-2 result in favor of unionization, means the New Hampshire institution is now obligated to negotiate in good faith with the athletes, represented by SEIU Local 560, part of the Service Employees International Union. This decision underscores the intensifying debate around the labor rights of student-athletes and their status as employees.
Dartmouth, however, has challenged this development by filing a 58-page appeal against the decision that allowed the unionization vote to proceed, reflecting the college’s stance that the basketball players, whom they consider students rather than employees, do not qualify for unionization under U.S. labor laws.
This unprecedented event arises amidst a broader discussion in the higher education and sports communities about the labor rights of college athletes. The movement gained significant momentum following statements from the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel in 2021, suggesting that some college athletes should be viewed as employees, a viewpoint further validated by a regional NLRB director’s ruling last month. This ruling stated that Dartmouth’s basketball players qualify as university employees, given the compensation and control the university exercises over their sports-related activities.
Despite Dartmouth’s efforts to halt the unionization process, including arguments questioning the applicability of labor laws to student-athletes and concerns over the future composition of the team, the NLRB allowed the vote to proceed. Players Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil have publicly urged Dartmouth’s administration to embrace this change and collaborate with the newly formed union towards reforming the college sports model to be less exploitative.
SEIU’s international president, Mary Kay Henry, lauded the unionizing players, predicting that their actions would mark a significant turning point in the history of college sports, particularly highlighting the exploitative aspects of the current system.
Dartmouth maintains that its athletes are primarily students and that their participation in sports does not equate to employment, emphasizing that the basketball program does not generate profit but is instead part of the college’s broader educational mission. The college’s appeal argues that recognizing the players as employees would drastically deviate from established precedents, potentially altering the landscape of college athletics and academic institutions’ approach to student-athletes. The outcome of this unionization effort could have far-reaching implications for college sports across the country, depending on the resolution of Dartmouth’s appeal and any subsequent objections to the election results.
