In a major legal and political defeat for big labor, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Wednesday that state government workers cannot be forced to pay so-called "fair share" fees to support collective bargaining and other union activities.
While the current case applies only to public-sector employees, the political and financial stakes are potentially huge for the broader American labor union movement, which had been sounding the alarm about the legal fight.
The unions say 5 million government employees in 24 states and the District of Columbia would be affected by this ruling.
At issue in the high-stakes case was whether states can compel government workers -- whether they are in a union or not -- to pay fees to support union activities. The case centered on the complaints of an Illinois state employee who sued, saying he was being asked to support the union's political message.