Dartmouth refuses to negotiate with unionized basketball players

So much for colleges being a bastion of woke liberals.

Dartmouth has refused to negotiated with its unionized men’s basketball team, via the Associated Press.

The school believes that athletes are not employees. It is refusing to negotiate as part of the legal dance that will result in the question being resolved in court.

The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board determined that the basketball players are employees. Dartmouth’s status as a private institution keeps it within the NRLB’s jurisdiction.

The situation is important because the unionization effort could spread. Ultimately, a nationwide union could be the only way for the universities to get the college sports system under control.

That’s the irony of the current situation. For decades, the schools have refused to dip a toe into the pay-the-players pool. Now that successful litigation against the rampant antitrust violations have dropped a shark into the water, the only way to get a bigger boat is to embrace the concept of a national, unionized workforce.

Until that happens, look for more woe-is-me nonsense from those who don’t like the aftermath of the overdue reckoning.

Oh no, kids are getting paid! Oh no, one of the first things they ask about now is money!

Well, what’s the first thing anyone asks when considering a job? How’s the coffee in the break room? Will my office have sufficient natural light? Can I wear open-toe sandals to work?

No. No. And no. What does it pay?

And what’s wrong with that? Everyone connected to big-time college sports gets paid. And now that the players are getting paid, it’s a problem?

Get out of here with that crap. Apparently, some coaches apparently will be getting out of here. Faced with a system that can no longer be rigged with sweet talk and empty promises, it will be harder for some to compete in a world that gives the players a slice of the pie — and that makes it sensible and appropriate for them to ask just how much pie they’ll be getting.