Relates to collective bargaining rights for college athletes; authorizes the public employment relations board to exercise jurisdiction over institutions of higher education and college student athlete employees of such institutions in relation to all collective bargaining matters.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4760
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 12, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. BAILEY, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, PARKER -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to collective bargaining
rights for college athletes, and authorizes the public employment
relations board to exercise jurisdiction over institutions of higher
education and college student athlete employees of such institutions
in relation to all collective bargaining matters
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York
2 college athlete right to organize act".
3 § 2. Legislative intent. (a) The National Labor Relations Act (29
4 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) seeks to remedy the inequality of bargaining power
5 between employees and employers primarily through establishing and
6 protecting the rights of employees to self-organize and designate repre-
7 sentatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating the
8 terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or
9 protection. Labor organizations often originate to remedy unfair and
10 exploitative labor practices by employers through assisting employees in
11 securing more equitable terms and conditions of their employment,
12 including fair compensation and safe working conditions, which individ-
13 ual employees would be unlikely to negotiate successfully for on their
14 own. Labor organizations serve unique and essential purposes for profes-
15 sional athletes competing in sports leagues, where it is desirable to
16 establish uniform rules and standards across multiple employers. These
17 rules and standards bear significant consequences to the athletes in
18 terms of compensation, health and safety, and the ability or lack there-
19 of for athletes to choose their employer, among other issues related to
20 the athletes' well-being. The formation of labor organizations repres-
21 enting athletes in professional sports leagues in the United States has
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04516-01-5
S. 4760 2
1 helped end exploitative practices by team owners and management, partic-
2 ularly through establishing collective bargaining agreements that have
3 secured athletes a fair share of the revenues their talent and labor
4 produces, as well as more equitable terms of their employment and
5 protections for their short- and long-term health.
6 (b) College athletes face exploitative and unfair labor practices by
7 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (referred to in this
8 section as the "NCAA") and its member institutions, primarily through
9 the denial of the basic economic and labor rights of such athletes,
10 which the NCAA and its member institutions have justified by defining
11 college athletes as amateurs. The NCAA and its member institutions have
12 denied college athletes a fair wage for their labor by colluding to cap
13 compensation; they maintain strict and exacting control over the terms
14 and conditions of college athletes' labor; and they exercise the ability
15 to terminate an athlete's eligibility to compete if the athlete violates
16 these terms and conditions. College athletes exhibit the markers of
17 employment as established under the common law definition of the term
18 "employee": They perform a valuable service for their respective
19 colleges under a contract for hire in the form of grant-in-aid agree-
20 ments; these agreements assert significant control over how athletes
21 perform their work and the conditions under which they work; and they
22 receive compensation in the form of grant-in-aid and stipends in
23 exchange for their athletic services.
24 (c) To establish more equitable terms and conditions for college
25 athletes' labor, college athletes need representation of their own
26 choosing to negotiate collective bargaining agreements with their
27 respective colleges and the athletic conferences that help set rules and
28 standards across the state. To organize effectively, college athletes
29 must be able to form collective bargaining units across institutions of
30 higher education that compete against each other, including within
31 athletic conferences in the state.
32 § 3. Section 718 of the labor law is renumbered section 700-a and a
33 new section 718 is added to read as follows:
34 § 718. Collective bargaining rights for college athletes. 1. The board
35 shall exercise jurisdiction over institutions of higher education and
36 college student athlete employees of such institutions in relation to
37 all collective bargaining matters under this chapter pertaining to such
38 employees, including any representation matter, such as recognizing or
39 establishing a bargaining unit for such employees and any labor dispute,
40 involving such institutions and employees.
41 2. For the purpose of establishing an appropriate bargaining unit for
42 college athlete employees at institutions of higher education in an
43 intercollegiate athletic conference, the board shall recognize multiple
44 institutions of higher education within an intercollegiate athletic
45 conference as a multiemployer bargaining unit, but only if consented to
46 by the employee representatives for the intercollegiate sports bargain-
47 ing units at the institutions of higher education that will be included
48 in the multiemployer bargaining unit.
49 3. No person shall enter into or induce any person to enter into any
50 agreement (including a grant-in-aid agreement, as defined in section
51 3(15) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(15)) or legal
52 settlement that waives or permits noncompliance with this section.
53 4. As used in this section, "intercollegiate athletic conference"
54 means any conference or other group or organization of institutions of
55 higher education that: (a) exercises authority over intercollegiate
56 sports at such institutions of higher education; and (b) is engaged in
S. 4760 3
1 commerce or an industry or activity affecting commerce; provided, howev-
2 er, that such term does not include the National Collegiate Athletic
3 Association.
4 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 701 of the labor law is amended by
5 adding a new paragraph (c) to read as follows:
6 (c) The term "employer" includes a public institution of higher educa-
7 tion as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
8 U.S.C. 1002) and located within the state with respect to the employment
9 of college student athlete employees of the institution.
10 § 5. Subdivision 3 of section 701 of the labor law is amended by
11 adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
12 (d) The term "employee" or "college athlete employee" shall include
13 any individual who participates in an intercollegiate sport for an
14 institution of higher education located within the state and is a
15 student enrolled in such institution of higher education if:
16 (i) the individual receives any form of direct compensation, including
17 grant-in-aid, from the institution of higher education; and
18 (ii) any terms or conditions of such compensation require partic-
19 ipation in an intercollegiate sport.
20 § 6. Section 701 of the labor law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
21 sion 13 to read as follows:
22 13. The term "grant-in-aid" means a scholarship, grant, or other form
23 of financial assistance that is provided by an institution of higher
24 education to an individual for the individual's undergraduate or gradu-
25 ate course of study.
26 § 7. Nothing in this act, or any rule or regulation promulgated pursu-
27 ant to authority granted by this act, shall:
28 (a) cause any type of direct compensation described in section 2(3) of
29 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(3)) that was not previ-
30 ously treated as income for which a tax may be imposed under the Inter-
31 nal Revenue Code of 1986 to become a type of direct compensation for
32 which a tax may be imposed under the New York state tax law;
33 (b) cause any individual to be treated as an employee, or cause any
34 amounts received by an individual to be treated as wages, for purposes
35 of any provision in the New York state tax law relating to employment
36 taxes or the withholding of taxes by an employer if such individual or
37 amounts would not otherwise be so treated;
38 (c) affect the treatment of qualified scholarships under section 117
39 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or
40 (d) otherwise affect the treatment of any direct compensation
41 described in such section 2(3) in determining income, including gross
42 income or adjusted gross income, for purposes of -
43 (i) reporting requirements under the New York state tax law; or
44 (ii) determining eligibility for any form of state financial assist-
45 ance available to student athletes.
46 § 8. Severability. If any provision of this act or the application of
47 such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be
48 invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this act and the applica-
49 tion of the provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance,
50 shall not be affected.
51 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
52 this act shall be deemed repealed if any federal agency determines in
53 writing that this act would render New York state or any student athlete
54 ineligible for the receipt of federal funds or any court of competent
55 jurisdiction finally determines that this act would render New York
56 state out of compliance with federal law or regulation provided,
S. 4760 4
1 further, that the commissioner of labor shall notify the legislative
2 bill drafting commission upon the occurrence of such determination in
3 order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely effective
4 data base of the official text of the laws of the state of New York in
5 furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the legisla-
6 tive law and section 70-b of the public officers law. Effective imme-
7 diately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
8 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
9 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
