Declaring it "a civil rights issue," Sens. Chris Murphy and Bernie Sanders on Thursday introduced legislation to allow athletes at public and private universities to collectively bargain and form unions within athletic conferences. The College Athlete Right to Organize Act (pdf) would formalize the relationship between athletes and schools, where the lawmakers say athletes are "already treated like employees." "They provide a valuable service in exchange for compensation in the form of scholarships and grants-in-aid that they lose if they do not perform the job as specified by their colleges," Murphy (D-Conn.) and Sanders (I-Vt.) said. "This past year made this distinction even clearer, as college athletes continued to work and perform while their peers often were not on campus."