04-15-2024, 12:36 PM
Below is a lengthy Bloomberg article about Congressional leaders (and some law profs) discussing ideas for legislation affecting college athletics.
The article mostly tries to get comment about whether athletes should or should not be considered employees. I've highlighted comments from a proponent of compromise, Sen. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut:
College athletes could potentially be classified as employees under the National Labor Relations Act but not under the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to a comment attributed to a law prof.
Anyway, a good read with quotes from Booker as well as Sen. Ted Cruz, among others. I came away more optimistic that Congress will take action (relatively) soon, and that's certainly the way the authors and at least one of the labor law experts are framing things as well.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labo...ts-in-bind
The article mostly tries to get comment about whether athletes should or should not be considered employees. I've highlighted comments from a proponent of compromise, Sen. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut:
Quote: “What I’m considering is the possibility that athletes could choose representatives to bargain for them without becoming employees,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview. “It could be a union representative. They could unionize but without being employees.”
Quote: What makes college athletes’ worker status thorny for normally pro-labor Democrats is that their constituents are themselves split on the issue.
“I’m hearing from coaches and athletic departments; they think it’s a terrible idea,” Blumenthal said. “A college president regarded it as an anathema.” Students have also told him that they oppose being considered employees, he said.
“There are a lot of potential unintended consequences,” said Blumenthal, whose state is home to the University of Connecticut, the current NCAA men’s basketball champion.
College athletes could potentially be classified as employees under the National Labor Relations Act but not under the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to a comment attributed to a law prof.
Anyway, a good read with quotes from Booker as well as Sen. Ted Cruz, among others. I came away more optimistic that Congress will take action (relatively) soon, and that's certainly the way the authors and at least one of the labor law experts are framing things as well.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labo...ts-in-bind