Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) have reintroduced the College Athlete Right to Organize Act (CARO) in their respective chambers of Congress.
CARO identifies college athletes are employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) who are entitled to the right to organize and collectively bargain for fair compensation and better working conditions. CARO would enable college athletes to organize, either by sport or across sports or across colleges, to negotiate collective bargaining agreements within their athletic conferences.
“All the breathless attention on this weekend’s College Football Playoff selection is a reminder that college sports are anything but amateur,” said Murphy, who was joined by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren in reintroducing CARO. “There is no college sports industry and its $16 billion in annual revenues without the athletes’ labor. It’s past time they get a seat at the negotiating table. Instead of fighting athletes’ rights in courts and spending millions on lobbying Congress, the NCAA and its members should start negotiating directly with players on revenue-sharing, health and safety protections, and more. This legislation would make it easier for the athletes to realize their power, form unions, and start to collectively bargain.”
“College athletes are workers, period,” said Bowman. “They are skilled and disciplined young people who deserve so much more than to be treated as sources of revenue by the colleges and universities they attend. Their lack of collective bargaining rights, pay, and ownership of their own image is a labor and civil rights issue that requires our immediate action.”
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