LANSING, Mich. (MIRS News) – Rep. Carrie A. Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) said she plans to keep fighting to include student athletes in collective bargaining with her legislation, after Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) removed the same provision from his version of the legislation to restore unionization rights to student employees.

The pair testified on both bills, which seek to restore collective bargaining rights for graduate student research assistants (GSRA) who are currently not allowed to unionize, during Thursday’s House Labor Committee hearing. Rheingan’s HB 4497 includes an additional provision allowing student-athletes to collectively bargain.

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Irwin’s portion of the legislation, SB 185, also included both GSRA’s and intercollegiate athletes when it received a Senate committee hearing in April.

But the version that passed the Senate, 20-17, had student athlete collective bargaining removed.

Irwin said he became motivated to introduce the bill for GSRA’s while serving in the House eight years ago. At that time, there was an effort among GSRA’s within the University of Michigan to organize, which the University initially supported, he said.

However, he said the legislature hurriedly adopted a bill to amend Michigan’s Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) with stipulations that GSRA’s and those in equivalent positions were not public employees entitled to union representation to stop the labor movement in Ann Arbor.

Irwin disagreed with that decision and said there isn’t enough difference of designation between GSRA’s and other graduate employees for the stipulation to make sense.

“They look like employees to me,” he said when discussing GSRA workloads and working relationships with their superiors.

But student-athletes were a different-enough category that Irwin said he decided to include them in a separate discussion, after that portion of the bill received opposition for potential financial repercussions on universities.

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Rheingans, however, said she chose to maintain the student-athlete provision in her bill, though she understands it may make it more difficult for some to vote in favor.

When asked why she felt it was necessary to keep student-athletes in the bill, Rheingans explained that these athletes bring value to their universities, but their time on a field or court can interfere with their primary job of being a student.

She said through former friendships with student-athletes in Ann Arbor, she discovered some were “strongly discouraged” from choosing majors with lab hours or work that would interfere with practice schedules.

“They’re not athlete students,” she said. “They’re student-athletes.”

A back-and-forth with Republican Reps. Mike Mueller (R-Linden) and Tom Kunse (R-Clare), who opposed the student-athlete portion of the bill, began when Mueller pointed out that these athletes are often compensated for their time in the form of scholarships or, more recently, name, image and likeness contracts.

Rheingans responded that those few students under contract will be protected and compensated, but a large majority of Michigan’s student-athletes will not receive those contracts.

Kunse countered that many university sports don’t make money, and are subsidized by the more popular programs, like football and basketball.

Is it fair if those teams not making money get to unionize, he asked?

Student-athletes already get preferential treatment, he said. If anything, allowing them to unionize is going to make it worse.

Rheingans said the package is about more than compensation, and unionizing would allow student-athletes protection against overwork and exploitation.

The other half of her and Irwin’s package addresses that same premise for graduate student employees, she said, ensuring student employees are paid a living wage and aren’t subject to unfair working hours.

Jenell Mansfield, legislative coordinator with the American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) Michigan branch, read a statement from an anonymous GSRA during her testimony.

The student wrote that graduate research assistants aren’t protected by a union, and often must work more than the 20 hours a week they’re required to receive their stipend. International students not legally allowed to work over 20 hours could even have their immigration status jeopardized because of this commonality, but the workload on GSRA’s is often too heavy to complete in the allotted time. All the while, employees can’t negotiate, the statement read.

Mansfield, who supported the bills, referred to GSRA’s as full-time staff scientists without the benefits.

The legislation was also supported by the Michigan Nurses Association, AFL-CIO of Michigan and the Michigan League for Public Policy.

It was opposed by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The package was not up for a vote. It awaits further action in the House Labor Committee.