‘This will absolutely kill college sports’: Dartmouth men’s basketball ends bid to become first NCAA player’s union

Dartmouth men’s basketball has withdrawn its petition to unionize after more than a year of legal battles.

The petition was first filed in September 2023 and eventually voted on in March 2024, passing with a 13-2 vote in favor of becoming part of the Service Employees International Union Local 560 chapter.

The union then began representing the Dartmouth players, as they already work with other campus employment blocks.

After the team made their decision, Dartmouth refused to enter collective bargaining with the athletes and made a clear statement that it does not consider the athletes as school employees.

‘This will absolutely kill college sports.’

According to On3, the players filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board in response and argued that Dartmouth was not bargaining in “good faith.”

Former college football coach and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said at the time that a move to unionize would “ruin” college sports.

“They’re going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg — all these athletes are — because it pays for everything. Scholarships are paid — men and women — but there’s a lot of people that don’t bring in money to universities,” Tuberville explained.

“What’s going to happen here is you’re going to see groups of people [that are] going to try to unionize and then it’s going to spread across the country. We’ve been fighting it here. [Democrat] Joe Manchin and I did an NIL bill that was bipartisan, but it kept unionization out, but the Democrats wanted it in,” Tuberville continued.

Tuberville further expressed that he believed college athletes are “not employees.”

“These students are student-athletes. And if you want the federal government involved and ruin something, you try to make the student-athletes employees. Soon the federal government will get involved, unions will get involved, and it will be a total disaster.”

“This will absolutely kill college sports,” he added.

Just before the new year, Dartmouth men’s basketball withdrew their petition to unionize, with Local 560 president Chris Peck announcing the move while still attempting to put a positive spin on the situation.

“[The athletes] have pushed the conversation on employment and collective bargaining in college sports forward and made history by being classified as employees, winning their union election 13-2, and becoming the first certified bargaining unit of college athletes in the country.”

The union also condemned Dartmouth for choosing “not to respect the team’s decision” nor federal labor laws by “refusing to bargain, thus violating their own Code of Ethical Business Conduct.”

The letter went on, per Front Office Sports’ Amanda Christovich, “While our strategy is shifting, we will continue to advocate for just compensation, adequate health coverage, and safe working conditions for varsity athletes at Dartmouth.”

The local union said it represents 500 workers from Dartmouth College including, power plant, custodial, security, and athletic department workers, among others.

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