Kentucky schools can resume deducting teacher union dues after law struck down

A recent court ruling struck down a new Kentucky law that prohibits public schools from deducting union dues from teachers' paychecks, stating that it violates teachers' equal protection rights under the state constitution.

Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled Aug. 30 that Senate Bill 7, passed in the 2023 legislative session, is permanently enjoined, with Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who intervened as a defendant, quickly appealing the ruling.

The Kentucky Education Association — a union representing 23,500 active public school teachers and 17,000 retired ones — and Nicholas County Education Association sued April 17 to block the law, arguing it deprives teachers of equal protection under the law, as its provisions exempt the unions of other public employees like law enforcement officers, prison staff and firefighters.

While the attorney general's office made the case that the legislature could differentiate between teachers and other public employees in jobs deemed hazardous, Wingate said this classification was arbitrary and lacked a rational basis.

Though conceding that Kentucky's retirement structure differentiates between hazardous and nonhazardous employees, Wingate wrote that "the classification provided for in SB 7 is one that can best be summed up as favoritism for certain labor organizations performing the same services as the non-exempted labor organizations."

Noting the legislation was designed to avoid the appearance that public resources are being used to support the partisan political activity of unions, Wingate countered that "SB 7 does not fit this goal as it has instead allowed the General Assembly to arbitrarily select which labor organizations get to participate in the 'optic' of using public resources to support partisan political activity."

Wingate allowed the lawsuit to proceed as the Kentucky Supreme Court takes up a challenge to Senate Bill 126, a law passed this year allowing defendants in certain lawsuits to request the case be transferred to a random county — which is what Cameron requested for this case. Should the Supreme Court eventually rule that SB 126 is constitutional, it may choose to remand this KEA lawsuit back to a different circuit court.

With SB 7 enjoined, public schools may now resume deducting teachers' union dues. The KEA noted in its lawsuit that 90% of its members' dues had been paid through automatic deduction through their schools but had to make those payments independently after SB 7 went into effect in March.

Spokespersons for the KEA and Cameron's office did not immediately return a request for comment on Wingate's injunction.

This story may be updated.

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Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky teachers' union dues can be deducted by schools, judge rules