A new era begins today as college athletes made history by votiing yes to a union.
“The Dartmouth College men’s basketball team voted 13-2 Tuesday afternoon to become the first labor union for college athletes.
The vote could mean a huge shakeup for the NCAA’s model, which allows college athletes to financially benefit from their role on teams only through their names, images and likenesses.
Dartmouth players Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil began the initial push for unionization via a petition in September. They celebrated the results of the historic election in a statement.
‘It is self-evident that we, as students, can also be both campus workers and union members,’ they said. ‘Dartmouth seems to be stuck in the past. It’s time for the age of amateurism to end.’
They told NBC News Now that they had to take on campus jobs to sustain their finances while they were student-athletes because they don’t get any benefit or stipend despite the full-time commitment.
The Dartmouth team voted to join SEIU Local 560, which represents service employees in Hanover, New Hampshire. The union’s local and international presidents congratulated the team on its vote.
‘The Ivy League is where the whole scandalous model of nearly free labor in college sports was born and that is where it is going to die,’ SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry wrote. ‘But this victory is about way more than sports, it’s about people who need a union getting one.’
The National Labor Relations Board paved the way for the union vote on Feb. 5, when Regional Director Laura Sacks ordered an election for the team.”
For the rest of the story, visit NBC News here.