Madison - State workers signaled Monday they could accept benefit cuts proposed by Gov. Scott Walker even as they prepared to battle with Walker over his plan to cut most of their union bargaining rights.

Republicans who control the Legislature have put Walker's budget repair bill on a fast track, with a public hearing Tuesday and possible action by one or both houses as early as Thursday. The budget-writing Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill after Tuesday's daylong hearing.

The plan by Walker would require most public workers to pay half the cost of their pensions - typically 5.8% of pay for state workers - and at least 12% of their health insurance premiums.

Ken Weaver, a Department of Transportation worker active with the Wisconsin State Employees Union, said employees were willing to make concessions on compensation, but were upset over the prospect of losing most of their bargaining rights.

Willy Haus, a lawyer who negotiates contracts for the State Engineers Association and the Association of State Prosecutors, said Walker could have more easily hit the number he wanted in concessions - about $300 million over two years - if he negotiated with the unions.

Haus said workers were willing to give up compensation. But he said Walker's plans went far beyond those kinds of concessions.

"This is about busting unions and there is no nicer way to put it," Haus said. "It's not about money. This is a hate crime."

In addition to the changes on health care and pensions, the bill would eliminate the ability for most public workers to negotiate over anything but wages. Raises could not exceed the increase in the Consumer Price Index unless approved by referendum. State workers could not be forced to pay dues to unions, and unions would also have to hold annual votes to keep their organizations intact.

Over the weekend and on Monday, voters flooded individual lawmakers' offices with hundreds of phone calls and e-mails. Opponents held demonstrations Monday at the Capitol, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a state office building in Milwaukee and near the home of Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine). Those are preludes to a Capitol rally planned for Tuesday that could draw thousands.

Walker said at a news conference Monday that the benefit cuts were essential to balancing the state's budget, which faces a shortfall of $137 million this year and up to $3.6 billion over the next two years. The other changes to the state's collective bargaining laws are needed to give public workers more choice, he said.

"We're giving every worker in the public sector at the state and local level the ability to choose whether he or she wants to be involved in a union," he said. "That's free choice. That's the American way. It's true democracy."

The bill also would end health care and pension contributions for limited-term employees. Such employees in some cases have short-term assignments, but others work for the state for years.

Faces loss of health care

James Christopoulos, 30, is an assistant ecologist who has worked for the Department of Natural Resources as a limited-term employee for almost five years. He makes $15.57 an hour but does not receive paid vacation or sick leave. He will lose all state-paid pension and health care benefits if Walker's plan becomes law.

He said he understood that state workers need to accept reductions but added he is worried he wouldn't be able to afford health care if the bill passes.

"If we're going to be looking at benefits . . . we need to not hit the ones who can least afford it the hardest," he said.

The state has about 1,500 limited-term employees, including 385 who receive state health insurance, state officials said. The state would save more than $7 million a year by eliminating health insurance and pension benefits for the limited-term employees, according to the state Department of Administration.

The changes in the law would apply to all public workers except police, firefighters and state troopers. The unions for state troopers, Milwaukee police officers and Milwaukee firefighters all endorsed Walker. Most other unions, including most other law enforcement unions, endorsed his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

While firefighters and police officers are spared, they don't want to see the bargaining law changed for others, said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. Neuenfeldt spoke Monday at a news conference in which representatives of private sector unions said they stood with public workers.

"Governor Walker's budget repair bill is not only an attack on public employees, it's also an attack on workers all over the state," said Russ Krings, director of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 10.

Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, said he strongly supports the bill and would try to give the public a chance to react to it in the budget hearing Tuesday.

"I think it's exactly what Wisconsin needs," Vos said of the proposal.

He said he can empathize with public employees who will see their salary decrease by an average of roughly 8% because of the benefit cuts, but said legislators and their staff will take the same cuts "because, literally, there are no choices left."

Hitting home

The concessions would have a major effect on places like Waupun, which is home to two prisons, a minimum security facility and a pharmacy for the state prison system. Together they employ more than 1,000 people.

"It's a huge concern for the City of Waupun," said Mayor Jodi Steger. "This is going to be a huge impact on salaries."

Voters have flooded lawmakers with calls over the bill. For instance, Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) received more than 120 voice mails over the weekend and about 1,400 e-mails.

"We understand the private sector is suffering, but our members are outraged," said Phil Briski, president of a Wisconsin State Employees Union local. "Walker has woken up people who have sat back for 15, 20 years. Now people are taking note."

State agencies are so worried about absenteeism in the face of the bill that they have implemented a new reporting system for managers. But union leaders say they're telling their members to report to work and Walker said Monday that so far there have been no problems with workers' reactions to the proposal.

Walker's effort to weaken the power of unions is unprecedented in Wisconsin, according to Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

But he said there is a rationale: "The state has had a fiscal imbalance for almost 15 years and it limps from biennium to biennium" without getting its arms around rising benefit costs, Berry said.

He said that Walker's efforts to cut employee benefit costs at both the state and local levels are driven by the fact that more than half of the state budget is funneled to schools and localities.

Berry said the big question is whether the anticipated cuts in local aid will be outpaced by the savings schools and local government should get from reducing their employee benefit costs.

Pay, benefits comparison

A report released last week by the Economic Policy Institute found that public workers in Wisconsin received less in total pay and benefits than comparable private-sector workers. The Washington, D.C., think tank focuses on the interests of poor and middle-class workers and receives part of its funding from unions.

The report sought to account for factors such as education, experience, age and hours of work in comparing public and private sector workers, finding for instance that public workers were twice as likely as private sector workers to have a college degree. The report found that public workers have more generous benefits but overall make 4.8% less in pay and benefits than comparable private sector employees.

Sharif Durhams, Georgia Pabst and Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.