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Boston, N. H. — Last year at this moment, John” Jake” Krupski was a labour lawyer who represented organizations, police officers, firefighters and other regular Americans in New Hampshire.
He is still that person, but he is now spearheading a legal battle that was ultimately change the privileges of Division I college athletes in America.
Krupski is the counsel for the 15 Dartmouth College men’s basketball people, who on March 5 became the first union college sports in past. The Service Employees International Union, Local 560, serves as the athletes ‘ representative.
With the support of the NCAA and other powerful interests, Krupski has so far defeated an Ivy League institution with an$ 8 billion endowment.

Krupski flew piano as an lawyer for the people during the four-day receiving before the National Labor Relations Board last fall, while Dartmouth had a prepared legal team. Krupps persuaded NLRB local director Laura Sacks that the participants are unionized and people within the meaning of the NLRRA. Krupski’s oral arguments and papers, which indicated that he had thoroughly convinced her, were heavily reliant on Baskets ‘ purchase. Dartmouth has filed an appeal with the Washington, D.C. agency panel.
Sportico sat down with Krupski at his law business in Concord, N. H., last Friday for an unique exam, his primary since representing the people.
Krupski went on to explain the origins of the case.
Chris Peck, chairman of SEIU Local 560, contacted Krupski to ask if he would be willing to assist in the formation of a union next summer.
Krupski was n’t surprised by the request.
” I had observed that kids were asserting their rights as a whole on the Dartmouth school and other campuses,” he said. Krappi noted that there are no new labor and student employment at Dartmouth. The individuals who work in the dining room are Dartmouth people and have a union.
Some college-age American workers, like Dartmouth basketball players, see unions as essential to gaining real control over their jobs and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, in Krupski’s opinion.
” There is a trend for younger generations to want more influence,” Krupski said. ” They’re not willing to work for$ 7.25 an hour. They demand higher pay. They demand plan. They demand day off”. He said more Americans, especially younger ones, are recognizing life should n’t be about working all day and working much of the weekend. ” That should n’t be necessary to be a middle class American. You should n’t have to work 100 hours a week to make a decent living”.
Krupski acknowledges that many school presidents and athletic managers are terrified by the idea of college athletes working as staff and organizing unions.

” It’s understandable”, the 57- year- ancient husband and father explained. Individuals tend to feel at ease with the status quo, especially if they have achieved success there. Krupski claimed that even those who have n’t been successful in a system may find change worrying because they are unsure of what might come next.
Krupski, however, claimed that the “invitation of school sports becoming more like a company” leads to college players becoming unionized employees. It is a labor-based firm that then demands a chance to speak up.
Krupski constantly stressed that while the Dartmouth scenario is extraordinary in university sports, “it’s not fresh and it’s not inventive” in the American experience.
” This is about whether there is an employment relationship—that’s actually it”.
He claimed that the horror some people experience when they are recognized as employees is a result of the name used by the NCAA, colleges, and their business partners to distinguish college sports from the reality of a large business. Statements like “amateurism”,” student- performer” and institutions saying they do n’t “discipline” people but only “hold them accountable”, are, Krupski argued, linguistic tools to robe what is an ordinary working relationship.
” The problem that counts” is whether the participants “provide service under the direction and control of another in exchange for thought”, Krupski said. ” Everything else is white sound”.
He even emphasized” this is not about players–it’s about staff”. Kruppski claimed that the NCAA and its people deliberately fashioned a line between “players” and “workers” when, in truth,” they are employees like other employees and their freedom should not be divested.” A diversity of gamers from other employees “allows for the diverse cure”, he warned.
Krupski was accepted into the New Hampshire table that year after graduating from UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law. His residence at Milner &amp, Krupski is a short stroll from his university. Some of his customers wear uniforms to operate, but they’ve only just done so in the form of an athletic jersey and a gym-shortened outfit.
But Krupski says representing college basketball players is” never diverse” from representing cops and paramedics. They all want to change the way things are in their work relationships and want to enhance.
Consider products on the job. Whether it’s a officer on patrol or a sports person trying to slam, they want from their companies “equipment that is functioning, useful and safe”, Krupski observed.
” For a police officer”, Krupski explained, equipment could be” a gun and orange uniform”, while” for a fire the value might be wearing fabric more than acrylic which can burn to the system”. With an athlete, “it might be the type of shoes they have”. Even though the equipment is “occupation specific,” all occupations use unions to demand that they are given the appropriate equipment.
Krupski added that while the idea of athletes receiving pay dominates much of the media’s attention, the players ‘ goals are much wider than just a wage. A collective bargaining agreement, he noted, could provide coverage for workers ‘ compensation, life insurance, health insurance and disability insurance—all of which could prove very relevant to an injured player.
A CBA would also address player pay, such as an hourly or flat fee for the entire season. It could address minimum salary, per diem and travel expenses, too. A CBA may even offer bonuses for achieving certain performance milestones and differentials, such as completing a certain number of three-pointers.
Krupski claimed that CBAs also offer protections for schools, particularly coaches. ” There would be agreed- upon rules” for the workplace, he stressed, and players would have to follow them. Due to the requirement for coaches to adhere to the agreed-upon rules for all players, players who are curious about coaches engaging in “favoritism” would be less likely to be in the situation.
Krupski also touched on common myths about the pursuit of Dartmouth players. He repeatedly emphasized that forming a union is a “grass-roots” endeavor that requires a group of workers to do so informally—it’s not an automatic process.
In other words, Dartmouth basketball players unionizing does n’t make other college employees union members. Athletes at other private colleges would need to file an election petition, with at least 30 % of employees expressing support, followed by an election. Their university could, like Dartmouth, object and appeal at multiple points. According to their state labor laws, some of which forbid unionization, athletes at public universities would have to follow procedures.
Krupski also pushed back against Dartmouth’s contention that employment recognition places international players at risk of violating F- 1 visa requirements, which generally limit work to 20 hours per week and “work” must be on campus.
” A CBA would protect” international players, Krupski argued, since it could specify rules to ensure their employment relationship complies with rules. A CBA would also require that the school adhere to regulations to ensure that students from other countries ‘ visas are obtained.
” Right now”, he observed,” these athletes are subject to the whims and dictates of the college” and could get in trouble if their school treats them in ways that undermine immigration requirements. He points out that the F1 visa’s 20-hour workweek is equivalent to the CARA limitations on countable athletically-related activities.
” There are only 20 hours of CARA you do anyway under NCAA and Ivy League rules”, Krupski added. ” That is the maximum, too, you can always negotiate less in a CBA”. A CBA might also have a severability clause that states that if a contract is determined to be in violation of the law, that provision becomes invalid and unenforceable while the remainder of the contract is in effect.
Krupski is aware that circumstances beyond the control of the players may alter the course of the case. For instance, if former president Donald Trump were to win the election in the fall, he would likely succeed Democrat Jennifer Abruzzo, who has been an outspoken supporter of college athletes. The board of directors is advised by the general counsel on the legal issues at hand.
Krupski does n’t appear worried. He cited the fact that many conservatives, including Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Supreme Court, have pushed for collective bargaining among college athletes, and that the NCAA and its members are a cartel of impunity.
College athletes ‘ rights, Krupski insisted, “are not a right or left issue”, and he sees judges from across the ideological spectrum finally” taking away the mystique” that colleges are different from other employers.
Krupski also thinks that unionization could help the college sports sector, which is plagued by multibillion-dollar antitrust lawsuits demanding compensation from college athletes. Colleges and athletes could work together to create sane workplace regulations that are resistant to antitrust scrutiny and that embodie a spirit of collaboration. Krupski’s mention of unions and American automakers joining forces in the 1990s as a lesson for the NCAA.
Krupski knows the legal process ahead could take time, even years. The agency board’s review will likely take several months, and its decision could be upheld on appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court and then appealed to a federal appeals court.
But Krupski says it does n’t need to be so drawn out.
If Dartmouth College chose to treat players the same way they would every other student at Dartmouth,” this could be over tomorrow,” Krupski claimed. The school has “taken a different approach with these 15 employees” so far as to deal with any other student employees.
When asked if he had ever imagined leading a famous legal battle for athletes as a law student 30 years ago, Krupski joked that he had n’t when asked if it had happened a year ago.
” Back in law school, my focus was on graduating, passing the bar and getting a job”.
Krupski is still on the quest for a job, but this time it’s for 15 others and if he wins, perhaps many thousands of others.