Dartmouth Hoops Specifises Union Push Amid Unfair Labor Claims

Credit: Dartmouth Athletics

In a world where NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules the media landscape of college athletics, It’s important to highlight the other efforts being made to create a more equitable environment for student-athletes in college.

Recently, Dartmouth college men’s basketball, with the help of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), filed a petition with the National Labor Relations board in an attempt to recognize the rostered athletes as a union. In short, they’re looking for an hourly pay as a recognized university employee, and pathways to receive funding to offset higher health insurance deductibles given the higher risk for injury.

The employee status argument is one the more steadfast fights that student-athletes have attempted over the years, most notably with Northwestern’s Football team attempting to unionize in the last decade for similar reasons. For the 98% of college athletes who aren’t benefitting greatly from NIL - which rewards athletes on an influencer system rather than equal pay opportunity - this would provide the most stable support for all rostered athletes.

This particular petition is even more interesting, though, because the Ivy League does not provide athletic scholarships to any of their athletes. Frequently, the easy rebuttal to union petitions are that student-athletes are offered financial aid through their athletic recognition (something that only a fraction of student-athletes earn), and therefore there is no need for additional support. The Ivy league teams don’t have that crutch, so these argument must be had without that fallback defense.

As this story updates, we’ll report on it more!

Information Courtesy of Sportico: https://www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2023/dartmouth-mens-basketball-union-unfair-labor-claims-1234738966/