Dartmouth men’s basketball program took another step towards becoming the first team in college sports to successfully join a labor union. On Tuesday, the athletes voted 13-2, a complete roster turnout, in favor of joining the Services Employees International (SEIU) Local 560.
The players were permitted to vote following a NLRB regional director’s ruling on Feb. 6.
“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,” wrote NLRB Regional Director Laura Sacks, according to ESPN.
The two player representatives for the basketball team, Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil, issued a statement following the vote.
“Today is a big day for our team. We stuck together all season and won this election. It is self-evident that we, as students, can also be both campus workers and union members. Dartmouth seems to be stuck in the past. It’s time for the age of amateurism to end.”
The university also released a statement.
“For decades, Dartmouth has been proud to build productive relationships with the five unions that are currently part of our campus community. We always negotiate in good faith and have deep respect for our 1,500 union colleagues, including the members of SEIU Local 560. In this isolated circumstance, however, the student’s on the men’s basketball team are not in any way employed by Dartmouth. For Ivy League students who are varsity athletes, academics are of primary importance, and athletic pursuit is part of the educational experience. Classifying these students as employees simply because they play basketball is as unprecedented as it is inaccurate. We, therefore, do not believe unionization is appropriate.”
The vote today is a long way from the finish line for either party. There is a window for the parties to object to the election, and then another period to request for review of NLRB regional director Laura Sacks’ ruling with the NLRB. If, during that process, the Board determines that the players are employees and Dartmouth still refuses to bargain, the case can be appealed to a federal appeals court and lastly, the U.S. Supreme Court.
By the time a final decision is made, all the players who voted today could be long out of eligibility.
Nonetheless, this is a major decision in the world of college athletics. Every week it seems there is another important decision or ruling made in favor of the athletes.
In recent years, Dartmouth has found itself on the wrong end of legal battles. In July 2020, Dartmouth announced it was cutting 5 varsity athletics teams, including men’s and women’s swimming and diving. Six months later, after the women’s swimming and diving and women’s golf programs threatened to file Title IX complaints, Dartmouth announced they were immediately reinstating all five programs.
The day is not over for Dartmouth men’s basketball as they tip off against Harvard Tuesday night at 7:00 pm. Dartmouth is currently 5-21 (1-12) and last place in the Ivy League. That game concludes the team’s season, as only the top four in the Ivy League qualify for the conference tournament.
DARTMOUTH IS 1-12 IN THE IVY LEAGUE THIS YEAR.
SHOULD THE PLAYERS WORRY MORE ABOUT TRYING TO WIN A GAME.
They beat Harvard, so finished 2-12.
As an aside – isn’t Dartmouth required to maintain a Men’s basketball team to remain in Division I?
They are not. They have to have 14 sports, but there’s no requirement that any of them be basketball.
As a practical matter, every D1 school has a men’s basketball team, and if you don’t field a men’s basketball team, the economics of being in D1 really don’t work. You’d be better off financially just fielding a team and stop treating them like employees, which would result in a really horrendous team, to take your share of the distribution, than to drop the team.
A side note, who will be responsible for the union dues or will the union let them be members for free as a thank you for the increased media coverage?
Dartmouth should announce tomorrow that Men’s basketball will no longer be a sport at the school. That’s what this nonsense deserves as a response.
I don’t know the laws in New Hampshire, but in a lot of states, firing employees for unionizing is illegal.
They are not employees
The NLRB ruled that they are employees, so unless and until that decision is overturned, as a matter of law, they are employees.
So swim teams that think they are on the chopping block should unionize and claim they can’t be eliminated because of the optics of retaliation.
Common sense my ass.
So you pay $75-80k a year to attend a school and play on a team and somehow you call yourself an employee?
Should they be fired for poor performance then? They are set to finish last in the league.
NCAA gonna follow the trend of tech layoffs
This is a great way to kill sports at smaller programs. Dartmouth tried to eliminate it’s swim team already and the only reason it failed was because of alumni picking up the tab. I don’t see how this ends well if athletes become employees. It would be easier to eliminate the teams as they don’t generate revenue but instead take resources.
Dartmouth can’t drop the basketball team as it would violate federal labor law over retaliation and failure to bargain with a bargaining unit/union. However they could drop other sports or drop programs to club sports
Make it a club sport and take away their financial aid
I think that most or all Ivy league schools, financial aid is based on need and not performance. Without knowing the exact setup or the state laws in New Hampshire I think they could say that as an employee you added to your financial basis and that could lower the need for financial aid.
The team has not unionized nor are the players even employees (yet). There are no grounds under NLRB to object dissolution of the team at this moment. Furthermore, just as companies decide to shutter union plants across the country for lack of profitability (which they often do in part because of rising union costs), Dartmouth could very well do the same here. There is no requirement that companies keep union shops open. Only if they are already operating as a union there are requirements they negotiate in good faith and in accordance with state and federal labor laws.
That is not correct. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits retaliation for many “protected activities,” including efforts to unionize and discussing working conditions. The NLRA applies to most employers, and it is not limited to unionized employment relationships.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is more or less an arbiter between employees and employers with respect to all things that fall under the NLRA. Unionization is not necessary for the NLRB to be involved. The NLRB found the players are employees under the NLRA. That decision may be overturned on appeal, but it would be very risky to ignore the NLRB’s finding.
SwimCoach –
Not completely accurate. You are correct about the first time Dartmouth tried to eliminate the S/D team in 2001. Alumni raised enough money to keep the team going. The latest attempt in 2020 failed because of a Title IX violation technicality. As a Dartmouth alum who was involved with the 2020 situation, it was obvious the College (Pres Hanlon and AD Sheehy) did not care how much money the alumni raised. They had an agenda beyond the team’s performance – some of which has played out already.
I do not support the basketball team’s action. If they don’t like the training, quit and do something else. Their action will eventually kill college athletics. Sad – very sad
If Dartmouth really wants any sports team they certainly have the money. Likewise for any Ivy League school. Remember the Ivy League does not offer scholarships so the student athlete actually pays the school to play the sport and represent the school.