A West Virginia judge ruled Wednesday that parts of West Virginia’s “Workplace Freedom Act” (WFA), preventing employees from being required to pay union dues, is unconstitutional. 

Under the WFA, West Virginia workers could choose to pay no fees to the union required to represent them.

The case began in 2016 when several labor unions sued West Virginia Governor James Justice and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to block the enforcement of the WFA. Judge Jennifer Bailey, who issued the latest ruling, initially granted an injunction preventing the law’s enforcement while the case proceeded. But, in 2017, Bailey’s injunction was struck down by the West Virginia Supreme Court, which wrote, “In the absence of a likelihood of success on the merits, the circuit court abused its discretion when it granted the unions’ request for a preliminary injunction.”

The central issue of the case was whether a union that is required to represent all employees in contract negotiations could require all employees to pay dues supporting that work. Bailey ruled that unions could require all represented employees to pay dues writing, “Other states have reached a consensus that labor performed for money is property” and that the law “would take unions’ property without any compensation.” Courts have traditionally held that while employees could not be required to pay dues supporting a union’s political advocacy, they could be required to pay dues used to support the negotiations unions conduct on employees’ behalf. In June 2018 the US Supreme Court reversed the rule for public sector unions. The WFA case concerned private sector unions.

The case will likely be appealed.