Lawmakers Consider Allowing College Athletes to Unionize

Some local lawmakers are considering filing legislation to allow athletes at public colleges and universities in Connecticut to unionize.

State Rep. Patricia Dillon’s, D-New Haven, said she is researching the issue. 

The National College Athletes Players Association petitioned the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago, seeking to have Northwestern University’s football team recognized as a union and the NLRB ruled that the football players should be considered employees with the right to organize.

“It appears that state law may be an impediment,” Dillon said in a statement. “NLRB ruled that athletes at private schools have the right to unionize, but said state labor laws may prohibit public school students from organizing. I am prepared to file legislation to make sure athletes at both public and private schools are on equal footing.”

Dillon said it should be the athletes’ choice whether to join a union, but the state has an obligation to remove any barriers.

Athlete should be allowed to make their own choices about joining a union,” Rep. Dillon said.

Under NCAA rules, players cannot seek any outside employment, according to Dillon’s office.

When reporters asked Shabazz Napier, a UConn point guard who is headed to the NCAA championship, about the NLRB ruling, he said there are nights he goes to bed hungry.

State Rep. Matthew Lesser released a statement in support for Napier, his statements supporting unionization for college athletes and for discussing his own financial situation.

“Shabazz is a hero for raising these issues at this time. The NCAA's policies are obscene,” Lesser said in a statement. “Athletes in top tier NCAA sports bring in millions a year in revenue – they don’t see a dime of it and most of them will never make it to the NFL or NBA. Even worse, some of them will get career-ending injuries. Not only are they not getting paid, they have to worry about going to bed hungry.”

Lesser said this is not a UConn problem, it's an NCAA problem and he’s spoken with a co-chair of the Higher Education Committee.
               
The NCAA president called an effort to unionize players a "grossly inappropriate" way to solve problems in college sports while insisting schools have been working to get athletes more involved in decisions that impact them.

At his news conference on Sunday, NCAA president Mark Emmert said the association was in no rush to come up with plans in case college players' unions sprout up across the nation. He portrayed the recent decision in favor of Northwestern players who seek to unionize as a very early step.

Emmert was joined by other NCAA leaders who said many of the association's biggest issues -- including paying athletes and improving their health care -- could be more easily resolved if the five biggest conferences were allowed to write more of their own rules.