Strike up a Union
This year was a big year for Ivy League hoops. First, Yale won their conference tournament to earn a bid in the NCAA tournament where the 13th seeded Bulldogs upset the Auburn Tigers.
Even more shocking, however, was how Dartmouth ended their season. The Big Green went 2-12 to finish 8th in the conference and went 6-21 overall. Despite their disappointing record, the men’s basketball team made huge waves by being the first ever college athletic team to unionize.
On February 5, Laura Sacks, Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board, ordered an election for the team to become a union. “Because Dartmouth has the right to control the work performed by the Dartmouth men’s basketball team, and the players perform that work in exchange for compensation, I find that the petitioned-for basketball players are employees within the meaning of the [National Labor Relations] Act,” she said in a statement.
In response, hours before their final game of the season on March 5, the team voted 13-2 in favor of joining the Service Employees International Union Local 560.
The effort to unionize began in September and was led by Dartmouth forward Cade Haskins and guard Romeo Myrthil. “Today is a big day for our team. We stuck together all season and won this election,” wrote Haskins and Myrthil in a statement. “Let’s work together to create a less exploitative business model for college sports.”
In their student newspaper, Haskins and Myrthil contributed an article explaining their belief that they should be compensated like other student employees. Being paid for the time they spend on the sport “would alleviate the need for second jobs and enhance our experience as part of the Dartmouth community,” they wrote.
“We don’t get a stipend or any type of benefit for being athletes even though we are working like full time jobs basically by being on the team,” Haskins said. Unionizing would allow them to negotiate better health care benefits, to cover out-of-pocket costs incurred as a result of injuries sustained while playing for the school, they argued.
If the movement spreads, it could be a huge shakeup for the NCAA. Compensating athletes for their name, image and likeness (NIL), has completely changed the collegiate sports landscape, especially due to players’ ability to jump ship for better deals through the transfer portal. Unionizing will likely change it even more significantly.
Of course, the Trustees of Dartmouth College objected to the election and filed a motion asking the NLRB to halt it, which was denied. The school then asked the Board to overturn the decision by the agency’s regional director to hold the election in the first place, setting the stage for a protracted legal fight. Dartmouth argues that the athletes are “students first and athletes second,” and participate in college basketball to further their educational aims, like all students who participate in any recognized extracurricular activity.
“Unionization is not appropriate in this instance,” Dartmouth wrote in a statement to NBC News. “The costs of Dartmouth’s athletics program far exceed any revenue for the program.”
Despite the team’s actions, the university has said it will not enter into collective bargaining with the players, insisting, “athletes in the Ivy League are not employees.” The tactic “will likely result in SEIU Local 560 filing an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB, which we would appeal,” the school said. “This is the only lever Dartmouth has to get this matter reviewed by a federal court.”
It looks like the stage has been set for a long legal battle over the issue. Even longer than a 6-21 basketball season.
Reg P. Wydeven
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