U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut is reintroducing the College Athlete Right to Organize Act (CARO) legislation, a bill that will enable college athletes to unionize.

The bill will amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to classify college athletes as employees who are entitled to the right to organize and collectively bargain for fair compensation and better working conditions. The NLRA would also be ammended to define public colleges, alongside private institutions, as employers "within the context of intercollegiate sports, allowing athletes to collectively bargain at any college, regardless of
state laws that restrict their basic labor rights or potential state laws that define athletes as nonemployees."

The Act would also ensure athletes have full freedom to organize at their individual colleges, either by sport or across sports, or organize across colleges to negotiate collective bargaining agreements within their respective athletic conferences.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) co-sponsored the bill. Sanders is the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y) is introducing companion legislation in Congress.

“All the breathless attention on this weekend’s College Football Playoff selection is a reminder that college sports are anything but amateur. There is no college sports industry and its $16 billion in annual revenues without the athletes' labor. It’s past time they get a seat at the negotiating table. Instead of fighting athletes' rights in courts and spending millions on lobbying Congress, the NCAA and its members should start negotiating directly with players on revenue-sharing, health and safety protections, and more. This legislation would make it easier for the athletes to realize their power, form unions, and start to collectively bargain,” Murphy said in a release.

Murphy, a vocal UConn sports fans, has been critical of the NCAA in the past. He previously co-sponsored the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act with Massachusetts Rep. Lori Trahan. The legislation focused on a name, image and likeness opportunities for student-athletes.