Dartmouth Basketball Players Vote to Become the First Unionized College Sports Team
Mother JonesMar 06
Dartmouth Men's Basketball Votes to Form First Union in College Sports
The Facts
The Dartmouth College men’s basketball team on Tuesday voted to unionize, making them the first college athletic club to form a labor union.
The players voted 13-2 to join the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 560, which represents other Dartmouth workers. This came one month after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional office ruled that athletes are employees of the school.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
The Dartmouth men’s basketball team has achieved a major victory for labor rights that will pave the way for future generations of student athletes to collectively bargain. For decades, the NCAA exploited the labor of athletes who generated billions of dollars for their school and the NCAA. Only recently did the Association allow athletes to monetize their own name, likeness, and image. Dartmouth’s attempts to stop its basketball players from unionizing is a losing battle, and only reveal the Ivy League school’s hypocrisy on labor rights.
Pro-establishment narrative
Dartmouth has been a proud supporter of labor unions for many years, in which time it has worked harmoniously with the five employee unions on its campus. However, it’s objectively false to classify student-athletes as employees and thus let them form labor unions. College basketball players, like all other student-athletes, are students first, and are often compensated with full scholarships at their respective universities. Tuesday’s vote was not consistent with employment rules, and this should not be allowed to go forward.
Nerd narrative
There is a 50% chance that at least 12% of American workers will be represented by a labor union in 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.