Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo: Bloomberg New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Barbara Underwood issued statements Wednesday denouncing the divided U.S. Supreme Court's decision restricting the right of public sector unions to collect fair-share fees from non-union members. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also released a statement with mayors of 22 other cities vowing support and protections for municipal labor unions in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision. The court's 5-4 decision in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 came on the same day that Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his impending retirement, setting the stage for a fight to cement a conservative majority on the nation's highest court. The majority, led by Justice Samuel Alito Jr., split along conservative-liberal lines in deciding that the fees, also known as agency shop fees, violated the First Amendment rights of non-union members. That decision overturned a 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, which upheld the constitutionality of the fees. The ruling affects more than 11 million employees represented by unions in 22 states, including 8 million public sector members, according to affiliate publication The National Law Journal. There are more than 623,000 public-sector employees in New York state, according to Governing, second in number only to California, with more than 883,000. Cuomo, a Democrat, held a hastily organized news conference in Manhattan with labor leaders, including some with whom he has had contentious relationships in the past , vowing support for organized labor in the state and to protect members from harassment. The 300,000-member Civil Service Employees Association a nnounced on Monday that it would support him in his re-election campaign four years after it withheld its support during his second re-election bid. “In deciding Janus, the Supreme Court opined that the First Amendment shields individuals from involuntary payments that may subsequently support political messaging that is counter to one's personal views—but that reasoning is a smoke screen disguising the reality. Non-members are already afforded protections from such instances, and can be reimbursed for any money spent on political activities. At the same time, unions represent every single employee while negotiating collective bargaining agreements, including hourly rates, health insurance and other benefits,” he said in a statement released to the New York Daily News and published on the governor's office website. Cuomo also said his office would work with labor unions to pass state legislation to keep personal information of union members confidential to “prevent harassment and intimidation of workers engaged in union activities or looking to unionize.” Underwood, a former clerk to the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (like current Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan) released a statement as well. The Attorney General's Office had filed an amicus brief in Janus. She said: “Today's decision is a difficult setback, but it should also serve as a wake-up call to redouble our efforts to protect workers' rights. Here in New York, even prior to today's decision, we passed a law that strengthens workers' right to organize. Our office will use this law and all available avenues to protect public workers' right to organize and promote government efficiency, labor peace, and worker strength.” About 200,000 government workers in New York who chose not to join a union could save $110 million a year in dues and another million who signed union membership cards would have the option to reconsider, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, right-leaning think tank in Albany.