( CNN ) -- In a decision that sidesteps a major shift in labor policy , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Illinois ca n't force home health care workers to pay dues to unions . The narrow 5-4 ruling applies most directly to the Illinois home care providers who challenged a state decision to classify them as public employees and require them to pay fees to a union . But it also deals a blow to union efforts nationwide to extend their reach in an era of declining membership and political influence . `` These home workers share a lot of attributes of the new emerging work force , and for unions , it 's a big blow because that was their growth area , '' George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley said . `` And it 's going to be very difficult now to extend these contracts to get those types of dues . '' Still , the ruling was not as broad as many union activists had feared , falling well short of what some had predicted would be a vote to gut a 37-year-old Supreme Court decision allowing for what 's known in labor circles as the agency shop system . Read the ruling ( PDF ) Instead , the court created a new category of `` partial public employees '' who ca n't be compelled to pay into the union system . `` A narrow decision , a loss for the unions but not as catastrophic as many labor union people had feared , '' said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin . The ruling stems from a decision by Illinois lawmakers to classify home health care workers paid by Medicaid as state employees and require them to pay fees to the Service Employees International Union . The union exclusively bargains with the state over wages , hours and working conditions . The employees , most of whom were hired by individual patients and reimbursed through Medicaid , argued that they were being forced to subsidize the union 's efforts in violation of constitutional rights of free speech and free association . State officials argued that mandatory union representation increased wages and benefits , reduced employee turnover and improved training and supervision . Justice Samuel Alito , writing for the conservative majority , said the practice was a clear violation of the First Amendment . `` If we accepted Illinois ' argument , we would approve an unprecedented violation of the bedrock principle that , except perhaps in the rarest of circumstances , no person in this country may be compelled to subsidize speech by a third party that he or she does not wish to support , '' Alito wrote . Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent that in terms of the 1977 ruling that allowed agency shops , there was no difference between the home health workers and more traditional state employees . Labor union allies picked up on that line of reasoning . `` The Supreme Court 's ruling is a serious concern for workers ' rights across the country -- employees whose job qualifications , evaluations , salaries , work hours , training , and wages are all controlled by the state are , in every sense of the word , public sector employees , '' Rea Carey , executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force , said in a statement . `` Failure to recognize this fact , and to provide the collective bargaining rights that go along with it , will harm workers and families across the country , '' Carey said . The union involved in the case , the Service Employees International Union , said in a statement that the ruling `` places at risk a system of consumer-directed home care in Illinois that has proven successful in raising wages , providing affordable health care benefits , and increasing training . '' But union President Mary Kay Henry said the effort to unionize workers would continue . `` No court case is going to stand in the way of home care workers coming together to have a strong voice for good jobs and quality home care , '' she said . Fordham University law professor James Brudney said the ruling `` strikes a blow against efforts to address the serious problem of income inequality in this country . '' `` Home care employees are among our lowest-paid workers , and this decision will make it harder for them to come together to improve conditions . '' The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute , however , celebrated the ruling as a major victory . `` This decision delivers a major blow to the coercive powers of government unions , '' institute policy analyst Trey Kovacs said in a statement . `` The ruling frees thousands of home care and child care providers from financially assisting government unions that they disagree with . '' CNN 's Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta ; Bill Mears reported and wrote from Washington .
NEW : Illinois practice is clear First Amendment violation , Justice Samuel Alito writes . NEW : Ruling threatens employee well-being and patient care , union says . The ruling says Illinois home health care workers ca n't be forced to pay union dues . Experts : Ruling will limit unions ' ability to expand but does n't deliver blow some had feared .