New legislation proposed in the Connecticut General Assembly would classify student-athletes in high-revenue sports as employees of their university, allowing them to form a union and collectively bargain with the school.
The bill, submitted by State Representative Matt Lesser (D-Middletown), applies only to public universities in the state, including UConn. The text of the bill can be found here, but the key passage states that the student would have to receive a scholarship for no less than 90% of the cost of tuition, that the scholarship is “materially related to the student’s participation in athletics,” and that the revenues for the athletic program in which the student participates, when divided by the number of students expected to participate in that athletic program, be more than four-hundred percent of the cost of the scholarship. In other words, this only applies to athletes participating in “revenue sports,” which means football and men’s basketball at most schools, though a cursory look at the revenue for UConn’s women’s basketball team indicates that they would also qualify.
If enacted, Connecticut would become the first state in the nation to permit student-athletes at public universities to unionize. In March, a National Labor Relations Board official ordered an election at Northwestern University, a private institution, for its scholarship football players. Results of the certification vote — in which the players cast ballots determining if they will unionize — have been embargoed as the full NLRB in Washington DC reviews the initial ruling. According to Lesser, this provides the major distinction between the situation at Northwestern and this bill, which could affect all public universities in Connecticut. Said Lesser “While decisions of the NLRB apply to private colleges, public colleges are dependent on state collective bargaining laws.”
Lesser noted that Shabazz Napier’s statement last year that he often went hungry because of NCAA rules “brought the issue closer to home.” He added “Student athletes in revenue sports are part of a major industry, and ought to be entitled to basic rights. The NCAA has tried to create a climate of exploitation. The NCAA shouldn’t be able to exploit young, talented athletes who risk career-ending injuries on a daily basis. The bill will ensure that, at least in Connecticut, athletes’ voices are heard and their rights respected – that they’re not just used as free labor.”
The UConn Division of Athletics had no comment on the proposed legislation.
