Protesters spent the night in the Wisconsin capitol building, preparing for an eighth day of picketing Union unrest is spreading through the mid-western US, as labour activists in at least three states protest against pending anti-union legislation.
Thousands of protesters were expected to gather in Ohio and Indiana and, for the second week in a row, Wisconsin.
Republican-led governments there have argued the moves are needed to balance state budgets wracked by deficits.
But Democratic-leaning unions say fiscal woes are being used as an excuse to erode collective bargaining rights.
In Indiana, local media reported that House Democrats were leaving the state to block votes on labour bills.
The Indiana House came into session on Tuesday morning with only two of the 40 Democrats present, depriving the chamber of a quorum to do business, the Indianapolis Star newspaper reported.
The Republican-led Indiana state government has vowed to push a bill that would curtail private-sector unions by forbidding employers from requiring workers to pay union dues, a standard provision of union labour contracts.
In Ohio, between 4,000 and 20,000 labour union activists and supporters were expected to rally in the state capital of Columbus on Tuesday.
They will protest against legislation backed by Republican Governor John Kasich that would restrict public employees' collective bargaining rights.
"This isn't just public-service workers," Andy Richardson, a spokesman in Ohio for labour union AFL-CIO, told the Columbus Dispatch newspaper.
"It's students, community leaders, faith leaders, your neighbours and others who are concerned about this bill and the general anti-worker agenda of Kasich and his allies."
In Wisconsin, Republican Governor Scott Walker on Tuesday threatened to begin involuntary redundancies of state workers as early as next week if the legislature did not soon approve a bill stripping them of most collective bargaining rights.
He has said he will not back down in the face of tens of thousands of union workers and their supporters who have massed in the capital since last week.
The bill Governor Walker and the Republican legislative majority back would also require state workers to contribute more to pension and healthcare coverage.
It had been expected to pass the legislature last week, but in a move intended to stall the bill's passage and force its backers to negotiate, Senate opposition Democrats left the capitol, denying the Senate a quorum needed for a vote.
They have fled to neighbouring Illinois and have said they will not return until Mr Walker agrees to talks.
Wisconsin faces a $3.6bn (£2.23bn) budget deficit in the coming two-year period. The public employee bill is expected to save $300m in that period.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-us-canada-12541294
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