Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 336.130 (2026)

Employees may organize, bargain collectively, strike, picket --

✓ current as of May 2026

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Protection of employees -- Conduct prohibited -- Effect of violence or injury to person or property. (1) Employees may, free from restraint or coercion by the employers or their agents, associate collectively for self-organization and designate collectively representatives of their own choosing to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment to effectively promote their own rights and general welfare. Employees, collectively and individually, may strike, engage in peaceful picketing, and assemble collectively for peaceful purposes, except that no public employee, collectively or individually, may engage in a strike or a work stoppage. Nothing in this statute and KRS 65.015, 67A.6904, 67C.406, 70.262, 78.470, 78.480, 336.132, 336.134, 336.180, 336.990, and 345.050 shall be construed as altering, amending, granting, or removing the rights of public employees to associate collectively for self-organization and designate collectively representatives of their own choosing to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment to effectively promote their own rights and general welfare. (2) Neither employers or their agents nor employees or associations, organizations or groups of employees shall engage or be permitted to engage in unfair or illegal acts or practices or resort to violence, intimidation, threats or coercion. (3) (a) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section or any provision of the Kentucky Revised Statutes to the contrary, no employee shall be required, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment, to: 1. Become or remain a member of a labor organization; 2. Pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other similar charges of any kind or amount to a labor organization; or 3. Pay to any charity or other third party, in lieu of these payments, any amount equivalent to or pro rata portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges required of a labor organization. (b) As used in this subsection, the term "employee" means any person employed by or suffered or permitted to work for a public or private employer. (4) The secretary of the Education and Labor Cabinet or his or her representative shall investigate complaints of violations or threatened violations of subsection (3) of this section and may initiate enforcement of a criminal penalty by causing a complaint to be filed with the appropriate local prosecutor and ensure effective enforcement. (5) Except in instances where violence, personal injury, or damage to property have occurred and such occurrence is supported by an affidavit setting forth the facts and circumstances surrounding such incidents, the employees and their agents shall not be restrained or enjoined from exercising the rights granted them in subsection (1) of this section without a hearing first being held, unless the employees or their agents are engaged in a strike in violation of a "no strike" clause in their labor contract. (6) Submission of a false affidavit concerning violence, personal injury, or damage to property shall constitute a violation of KRS 523.030. In the absence of any such affidavit alleging violence, personal injury, or damage injunctions shall be issued only by a Circuit Judge or other justice or judge acting as a Circuit Judge pursuant to law. Effective:July 1, 2022 History: Amended 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 236, sec. 113, effective July 1, 2022. -- Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 1, effective January 9, 2017. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 134, sec. 1, effective June 17, 1978. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 1599c-28.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 33 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1950–2026 · leading case: Firestone Textile Co. Div. v. Meadows, 666 S.W.2d 730 (Ky. 1983).

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Firestone Textile Co. Div. v. Meadows, 666 S.W.2d 730 (Ky. 1983). · cites it 6× “KRS 336.130, the collective bargaining statute, neither refers specifically to wrongful discharge nor provides a private remedy.”

Smith v. Excel Maint. Servs., Inc., 617 F. Supp. 2d 520 (W.D. Ky. 2008). · cites it 19× “Smith was terminated, which he alleges was “discriminatory in nature and in retaliation for [his] role in organizing the aforementioned meeting.”

Pari-Mutuel Clerks' Union of Kentucky, Local 541, SEIU, AFL-CIO Ex Rel. Mann v. Kentucky Jockey Club, 551 S.W.2d 801 (Ky. 1977). · cites it 3× “Appellants claimed these acts to be in violation of KRS 336.130 1 and sought injunctive relief and an award of back pay for the time he would have been employed but for his discharge.”

Simpson Cnty. Steeplechase Ass'n v. Roberts, 898 S.W.2d 523 (Ky. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 4× “2d 801 (1977), recognized that a civil action for damages exists in cases where employees are *526 discharged in violation of KRS 336.130; however, the Court held that the statute does not permit injunctive relief.”

Bd. of Trs. of Univ. of Kentucky v. Pub. Employees Council No. 51 Am. Fed'n of State, Cnty. & Mun. Employees, 571 S.W.2d 616 (Ky. 1978). · cites it 4× “There the teachers’ association asserted that the legislature had recognized the right to strike in KRS 336.130. 1 This assertion was answered in a review of the background of the “collective bargaining statute”: “In 1940 the legislature enacted the Hunnicutt Act as Chapter 105…”

Nelson Steel Corp. v. McDaniel, 898 S.W.2d 66 (Ky. 1995). · cites it 2× “2d 801 (1977), wherein our Court had recognized a cause of action for wrongful discharge for an employee who alleged he was discharged in violation of KRS 336.130(1) because he authorized a labor union to represent him for purposes of collective bargaining.”

Blue Boar Cafeteria Co. v. Hotel & Restaurant Employees & Bartenders Int'l Union Local No. 181, 254 S.W.2d 335 (Ky. Ct. App. 1952). · cites it 4× “The primary question presented on this appeal is whether picketing under the facts of this case would require appellant, hereinafter referred to as “Blue Boar”, to coerce its employees to join appellee, called herein “the union”, in violation of KRS 336.130. Blue Boar is a…”

Messner v. Journeymen Barbers, Hairdressers & Cosmetologists, Int'l Union of Am., Local 256, 351 P.2d 347 (Cal. 1960). · cites it 2× “2d 694 [1], applying KRS 336.130 (Acts Gen. Assembly, 1940, ch.”

Jefferson Cnty. Teachers Ass'n v. Bd. of Educ., 463 S.W.2d 627 (Ky. Ct. App. 1970). · cites it 2× “On this theory it is appellants’ contention that our legislature has recognized such right in KRS 336.130. This statute specifically provides in part: “(1) Employes may, free from restraint or coercion by the employers or their agents, associate collectively for…”

Smith v. Westlake Vinyls, Inc. (W.D. Ky. 2019). · cites it 44× “Smith’s Complaint contains three Counts: I – Violation of KRS § 336.130, II – Violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement, and III – Punitive Damages.”

R. H. Hobbs Co. v. Christian, 325 S.W.2d 329 (Ky. Ct. App. 1959). · cites it 3× “210, we gather from the brief that appellant contends principally that under KRS 336.130, peaceful picketing is unlawful unless the actual picket line is established and maintained by employees alone.”

Kentucky State Afl-cio v. Puckett, 391 S.W.2d 360 (Ky. Ct. App. 1965). “*363 We find it unnecessary to discuss the questions of whether the ordinance in issue is within the scope of the police power of a Kentucky city, and whether the ordinance contravenes the public policy of the state as expressed in KRS 336.130. The judgment is reversed with…”

Show all 33 citing cases →

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 336.130(1) — 8 cases

Firestone Textile Co. Div. v. Meadows, 666 S.W.2d 730 (Ky. 1983). “KRS 336.130, the collective bargaining statute, neither refers specifically to wrongful discharge nor provides a private remedy.”

Nelson Steel Corp. v. McDaniel, 898 S.W.2d 66 (Ky. 1995). “2d 801 (1977), wherein our Court had recognized a cause of action for wrongful discharge for an employee who alleged he was discharged in violation of KRS 336.130(1) because he authorized a labor union to represent him for purposes of collective bargaining.”

Simpson Cnty. Steeplechase Ass'n v. Roberts, 898 S.W.2d 523 (Ky. Ct. App. 1995). “2d 801 (1977), recognized that a civil action for damages exists in cases where employees are *526 discharged in violation of KRS 336.130; however, the Court held that the statute does not permit injunctive relief.”

Blue Boar Cafeteria Co. v. Hackett, 227 S.W.2d 199 (Ky. Ct. App. 1950).

Miranda Stovall v. Ky 120 United Aft (Ky. Ct. App. 2025).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 336.130(2) — 5 cases

Smith v. Westlake Vinyls, Inc. (W.D. Ky. 2019).

Miranda Stovall v. Ky 120 United Aft (Ky. Ct. App. 2025).

Cantrell v. Food Store Employees' Union, Local 347, 309 S.W.2d 335 (Ky. Ct. App. 1957).

Cooke v. Bevin (E.D. Ky. 2019).

Local No. 227, Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workers of North Am. v. F. B. Purnell Sausage Co., 264 S.W.2d 870 (Ky. Ct. App. 1953).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 336.130(3) — 3 cases

Fred Zuckerman as Rep. of the Gen. Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers Local Union No. 89 v. Matthew G. Bevin in His Off. Capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Ky. 2018).

Fred Zuckerman as Rep. of the Gen. Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers Local Union No. 89 v. Matthew G. Bevin in His Off. Capacity as Govenor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Ky. 2018).

River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 614, Inc. v. louisville/jefferson Cnty. Metro Gov't (Ky. Ct. App. 2021).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 336.130(l) — 1 case

Smith v. Excel Maint. Servs., Inc., 617 F. Supp. 2d 520 (W.D. Ky. 2008). “Smith was terminated, which he alleges was “discriminatory in nature and in retaliation for [his] role in organizing the aforementioned meeting.”

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