Democrats in the Michigan Legislature have introduced bills to let student athletes at public universities form labor unions.
The legislation would classify student athletes as university employees instead of amateur competitors, which would set the stage for union bargaining over revenue sharing, training and work conditions, and name image and likeness agreements.
The bills would allow student-athletes to negotiate compensation and working conditions and would not allow universities to bar sponsorship deals. The legislation is silent on academic requirements or student status to be eligible to play.
Democratic state Representative Carry Rheingans is one of the bill sponsors. She says that’s by design:
So the students and their labor organizers and the universities and the athletic departments would be able to negotiate the terms of the contract. I don’t want to dictate the terms of the contract because it’s for the experts, the people who are living this life to negotiate the terms of the contract.”
Representative Joe Tate is a former Michigan State University football player who also went pro. He says student athletes who bring money into schools should get a bigger voice in their working conditions:
“Whether it’s this revenue coming in and just kind of that explosion there and student athletes not being able to take advantage of that.”
A recent nationwide court settlement requires schools to share revenue from ticket sales and broadcast deals with student athletes.
The legislation is partially a response to a court settlement that sets up revenue sharing between schools and athletes.
