For nearly a week, teachers, fire fighters, janitors, health care workers, and students have marched around the square in front of the capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin, spent nights in the capitol rotunda, and mounted a series of massive rallies. Their unity was spawned by the state's Republican legislators and GOP Gov. Scott Walker. A darling of the conservative Koch brothers, Walker's first budget seeks to eliminate state employees' ability to come together in unions and collectively bargain over their economic and working conditions, which would make Wisconsin the sixth state in the country to invoke such a ban.

Since Tuesday, when the Wisconsin Senate put Walker's budget bill in motion, the protesters have gathered at the capitol to battle the legislation, transforming Madison into a showdown over the future of union rights for public employees during a time of budget austerity -- and union rights more generally.

Not Just Wisconsin

There's a sense what happens in Madison has implications for state governments across the country, and a solidarity movement has formed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Wisconsin public employees. Chicagoans are heading north to voice their support for them. Hanging from the balcony of the capitol building rotunda are yellow banners noting support from people in San Francisco, Detroit, Baltimore, and other cities for the Badger State workers.

The protests grew throughout last week. By Saturday, crowds had swelled to an estimated 70,000 people. Joanna Kuzba, the daughter of public school employees who grew up in Milwaukee but now lives in Chicago, was one them. She woke up early on Saturday, boarded an Amtrak train, and headed to Madison to join the growing crowds.

Kuzba said she and her parents came to Milwaukee from Poland 24 years ago. They deserve, she said, "the right to bargain." Walker's proposal would "shut down in their face what they've worked for their entire lives, which is just preposterous to me," she said. "When you get together as a people, you can finally make a difference and make people open up their eyes and see that this affects so many different people."

The same sentiment brought Todd Johns, a boilermaker from Peoria to Madison. He started protesting last Thursday and had no plans to leave. In fact, with the federal holiday on Monday (a furlough day for many Wisconsin workers), Johns was expecting reinforcements from south of the state border. "I came up here to support the Wisconsin people and salvage what's left of our future," he said. "This ain't just a Wisconsin thing, this is a national thing ... This isn't about unions, it's about salvation."

"It has nothing really to do with my benefits," said teacher Gloria Zagorski, who had occupied the same spot on the second-floor balcony in the capitol building since Tuesday. "It has to do with losing my contract. I don't want to have to teach to 50 kids in one classroom."

Nichole Von Haden, sitting with Zagorski, has only left the building to grab some food on nearby State Street. "I'm getting worn out but I plan to be here, with my heels dug in, as long as it takes," she said.

How We Got Here

There is no question Walker's bill struck a nerve. While the protests have already put discussions about collectively bargaining, wages, and benefits, squarely back into public discourse once again, they have yet to sway the governor himself. Walker today rejected a plan that would roll back collective bargaining for two years instead of forever. And Saturday's pro-union rally was opposed by a much smaller gathering of Tea Partiers, rallying in support of Walker. The proposal to eliminate collective bargaining comes despite the fact that, as the Miwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported, "Union leaders have said they are willing to accept those concessions, which total nearly $330 million through June 2013."

Walker has reason to be defiant -- both houses of the legislature are controlled by Republicans. That's forced state Democrats' hand. With radical changes to collective bargaining on the table, the Wisconsin Senate's 14 Democratic members left the state, meaning the GOP can't achieve a quorum and vote on the budget bill. But "the Wisconsin 14" will eventually have to return to Madison.

Where We're Going

In an interview with Progress Illinois, Democratic State Assemblyman Brett Hulsey, who represents the western part of Madison and was elected to the legislature in November, said he has heard from some of his Republican colleagues that they may be willing to renegotiate the budget bill. Still, on Friday night, the Republicans in the lower chamber nearly pushed the legislation through in a maneuver that was thwarted at the last minute by Democrats.

The protesters, meanwhile, are hoping their presence will keep senate and house Democrats strong and eventually force some sort of compromise. Take a look at some of the scene on Saturday:

Outside the capitol, labor leaders have gathered twice a day to address the crowds. The stunning politeness of the gatherings is seen in these speeches. (Despite the massive number of people expressing their anger at the proposal in front of the legislature, no arrests were made at the week's biggest rally on Saturday.) When the various speakers step up to the microphone, the crowd chants, "Thank you!"

Reflecting on the controversy surrounding the budget bill, which he said has "nothing to do with the budget," Hulsey summed up the protests on Sunday. "This is an attack on workers rights in Wisconsin, and we're seeing similar attacks throughout America -- Ohio, Oklahoma, Idaho and Tennessee. This is our Waterloo. This is our moment to stop the attacks."