Scholarship athletes would be granted employee status and both public and private colleges would deemed their employers.
College athletes would have the right to organize and collectively bargain with schools and conferences under a bill introduced Thursday by Democrats in the House and Senate. Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) announced the College Athletes Right to Organize Act. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Andy Levin (Mich.) and Lori Trahan (Mass.). The bill would amend the National Labor Relations Act to define college athletes who receive direct grant-in-aid from their schools as employees. A movement at Northwestern to unionize college football players was rejected by the National Labor Relations Board in 2015. Murphy and Trahan are among several federal lawmakers from both parties who have previously introduced legislation related to college athletes being permitted to earn money for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
