Dartmouth College men's basketball players voted 13-2 on Tuesday to unionise in the United States, an unprecedented move that could forever change the landscape of American college sports. The National Labor Relations Board supervised the vote, which saw the players join the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 560, which represents other Dartmouth workers. 

Dartmouth College men's basketball players voted 13-2 on Tuesday to unionise in the United States, an unprecedented move that could forever change the landscape of American college sports. The National Labor Relations Board supervised the vote, which saw the players join the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 560, which represents other Dartmouth workers.. 

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled last month that the players were school employees, although Dartmouth officials said they filed an appeal of that decision on Tuesday. 

The vote marks their first action as college employees and the first step in negotiations that challenge the National Collegiate Athletic Association's amateurism rules and have the potential to reshape the financial landscape of college football and basketball in the US.

"Today is a great day for our team," players Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil said in a statement to reporters. "We stuck together all season and won this election... It is clear that we as students can also be campus workers and union members. Dartmouth seems stuck in the past. It's time to end the era of amateurism."

In recent years, the paradigm has shifted. The business of college sports has grown exponentially, leaving the players on the sidelines. It is estimated that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) generated nearly $1.3 billion last year.

Players go unpaid for games that generate huge television and sponsorship revenues for schools, and often play under coaches who earn millions of dollars (last month, Ohio State fired coach Chris Holtmann and will pay him an estimated fortune of between $12 and $14 million in compensation).

In response to this situation, legal victories have been won in recent years that allow players, who have historically been amateurs, to benefit from the use of their name, image or likeness beyond scholarships. "These players are our members, and we welcome them not only to Local 560, but to the entire Dartmouth labour coalition. We all look forward to standing in solidarity with them as they begin to negotiate their first historic contract," said Local President Chris Peck.

Dartmouth officials could take their objection to classifying athletes as employees and go to federal court, a battle that would likely delay collective bargaining negotiations until long after the players graduate. Dartmouth is proud to have productive relationships with the five unions that are part of the campus community and stressed its "deep respect" for the school's 1,500 union colleagues.

"In this particular circumstance, however, the student-athletes on the men's basketball team are in no way employed by Dartmouth. For Ivy League students who are varsity athletes, academics are paramount and athletics are part of the educational experience," the school said in a statement.

"Classifying these students as employees simply because they play basketball is as unprecedented as it is inaccurate. Therefore, we do not believe that unionisation is appropriate," the management (which does not recognise itself as such) argued.

Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), said: "These young men will be remembered as one of the greatest basketball teams in history. The Ivy League is where the scandalous model of nearly free labour in college sports was born and where it will die. 

Professional sports unions also offered their support, including Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. "By voting to unionise, these athletes will have an unprecedented seat at the table and a powerful voice to negotiate rights and benefits that have been ignored for too long," Clark said.