The Kentucky Supreme Court says the state has the right to enact right-to-work laws.

It was a narrow decision, with a vote of 4-3.

The opinion written by Justice Vanmeter says, "In this area of economic legislation the legislature and the executive branch make the policy, not the courts."

The General Assembly enacted the legislation in 2017, the Act's stated goal was "to attract new business and investment into the Commonwealth as soon as possible."

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate reached the same conclusion early this year. 

The law bans unions from collecting mandatory dues from workers. Unions say this goes against the Kentucky Constitution's provisions requiring equal protection of the laws, prohibiting special legislation, prohibiting takings without compensation, and that it was improperly designated as emergency legislation.

This decision is another blow to unions, who lost a United States Supreme Court case earlier this year. Janus v. AFSCME ruled that unions cannot mandate dues from non-union members.

Gov. Matt Bevin, R-Kentucky, is praising the ruling of the Kentucky Supreme Court for their decision. 

"We appaulded the state Supreme Court's decision today affirming Kentucky's historic right-work-law," his statement reads. "Kentucky is experiencing unprecedented economic growth, as we provide important right-to-work protections to every worker in the state and send a clear message to the world that we are truly open for business."

Unions say they are disappointed the court "decided to ignore clear constitutional violations" of the measure.

In a statement Bill Londrigan, President of Kentucky State AFL-CIO said,"The majority opinion flies in the face of the undisputed fact that this law singles out labor unions and their thousands of members for unfair and discriminatory treatment and violates unions' rights to equal protection under the Kentucky Constitution."