Wisconsin governor gives Democrats ultimatum

Wisconsin Democrats meanwhile drew fresh support from President Barack Obama and a big union filed a legal complaint against the governor, as a poll suggested he would lose to his Democratic opponent if the 2010 election were held now.

Walker stepped up the pressure on 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state to avoid a vote on his bill. On Tuesday he will unveil a two-year state budget he said cuts $1 billion from funding to local governments and schools.

What began as one small state trying to rewrite the rules of labor relations has blown up into what could be the biggest confrontation with American labor unions since then-President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981.

For the second time since the controversy erupted, President Obama weighed into the debate on Monday, criticizing the Wisconsin plan without mentioning it by name.

"I don't think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed upon," Obama told the nation's governors gathered in Washington.

"We're not going to attract the best teachers for our kids, for example, if they only make a fraction of what other professionals make," the president said.

In response, Walker said through his press secretary that Obama misunderstood the situation, and "most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits while our plan allows it for base pay ... the average federal worker pays twice as much for health insurance as what we are asking."

PROTESTERS SHIVER, STAY WARY OF DEALS

Some pro-union demonstrators continued to occupy the State Capitol building after refusing to leave the previous day, but Wisconsin authorities and police barred most protesters from entering the building on Monday, leaving hundreds massed outside in frigid temperatures.

The American Civil Liberties Union called the closing "presumptively unconstitutional" and urged the Wisconsin Department of Administration to reopen the Capitol Building to the general public.

Officials plan to restrict access again on Tuesday, the day Walker gives his budget address.

"There will be some limited access," said Cullen Werwie, press secretary to Walker. Detailed plans for access will be announced on Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of protesters had occupied the building from February 15, and many were allowed to camp on the marble floors overnight once again on Sunday, defying capitol police.

Walker's budget proposal brought out an estimated 70,000 protesters on Saturday, the biggest protest crowd in the capital since the Vietnam War, and a poll released on Monday suggested that if the 2010 election could be replayed the Wisconsin governor might lose.