In March, Dartmouth basketball players made history with a 13-2 vote to unionize and be classified as college employees — the first successful union election by student-athletes in US history. After Dartmouth rejected the bid, the two sides began litigating the path forward. But last Tuesday, well before any contract was reached, the players ended their union efforts by withdrawing their federal labor petition.

The athletes “have pushed the conversation on employment and collective bargaining in college sports forward,” said Chris Peck, president of Service Employees International Union Local 560, in a statement. “While our strategy is shifting, we will continue to advocate for just compensation, adequate health coverage, and safe working conditions for varsity athletes at Dartmouth.”

The immediate cause of the withdrawal was almost certainly political. With President-elect Donald Trump set to fill two vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board after Senate Democrats failed to confirm the current Democratic chair for another term, the Dartmouth basketball union opted to preserve their earlier victory rather than risk an adverse ruling from what will likely be a more employer-friendly board. Trump is also expected to replace NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, who has been notably supportive of college athletes’ collective bargaining rights, potentially on his first day in office.

Sports economist Andy Schwarz notes that unionization rights at the federal NLRB level are fundamentally unstable — even if the athletes had succeeded in getting a contract under a new Democratic administration, their victory could be overturned by subsequent Republican-appointed labor boards, as has happened with graduate student organizing rights. Legal experts expect unions to preemptively withdraw more pending cases and say a Trump board........

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