On December 31, 2024, Service Employees International Union, Local 560 (SEIU), the union seeking to represent the men’s basketball team at Dartmouth College, withdrew its petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), effectively ending its effort to become the first labor organization to unionize a collegiate athletic program.
The withdrawal comes after a decision from the NLRB’s Regional Director for Region 01, finding that Dartmouth’s men’s basketball athletes were employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB’s General Counsel appointed by the Biden Administration, Jennifer Abruzzo, previously announced her support for recognizing collegiate athletes as employees under the NLRA in a memorandum intended to provide guidance to the NLRB’s Regional Offices.
Following the Regional Director’s decision, the members of Dartmouth’s basketball team voted in favor of representation by SEIU. Dartmouth requested that the NLRB review the Regional Director’s decision (which remained pending at the time of SEIU’s withdrawal) and otherwise declined to commence bargaining with SEIU. Dartmouth’s refusal to bargain drew a complaint in an unfair labor practice proceeding, teeing up the NLRB to eventually weigh in on its jurisdiction over the basketball team even if it declined to review the Regional Director’s decision in the representation case.
The last time the NLRB was faced with whether college athletes had the right to unionize, it declined to exercise jurisdiction over the case without reaching the issue of whether the athletes were indeed employees under the NLRA. However, largely aligned with the priorities of General Counsel Abruzzo, the Democrat-controlled NLRB was anticipated to reconsider its stance.
SEIU’s withdrawal does not necessary come as a surprise after the reelection of President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to quickly replace the NLRB General Counsel and flip control of the NLRB to the Republicans. By withdrawing the case, SEIU will avoid a potentially precedent-setting decision from a less friendly administration.
President Trump’s NLRB General Counsel and a Republican-controlled NLRB will seek to undo many of the changes made by President Biden’s NLRB, which generally shifted power from employers to unions.
Employers cannot rely on future changes to law just yet and need to take care to follow current law when dealing with unions and organizing drives. We will be sure to update you given the expected changes from the new Trump administration. For more information, please contact Peyton Demith at pdemith@vedderprice.com, Fernanda Contreras at fcontreras@vedderprice.com or any Vedder Price attorney with whom you have worked.
See Nw. Univ. & Coll. Athletes Players Ass’n, 362 N.L.R.B. 1350 (2015).