The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO on Sunday launched a major advertising campaign against Gov. Scott Walker's plan that would erase almost all collective bargaining rights for most public workers as a way to shore up the state's finances.

The television and radio ads say Walker and other politicians plan to "take away rights of thousands of nurses, teachers and other trusted public employees" and are doing so with almost no public discussion or debate.

The state AFL-CIO calls Walker's proposal "unnecessary and unfair," and its ads urge people to call legislators to tell them to stop this "radical government takeover of the rights of government workers."

The ads say Walker's proposal would take away any say the workers would have in the workplace and would eliminate their union.

The Legislature could act this week on the bill, which would shore up the state's finances through June 30. A public hearing is expected on the bill Tuesday in the Legislature's budget committee.

The bill would require the vast majority of state, local and school employees to pay half the costs of their pensions and pay at least 12.6% of their health care premiums.

Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Walker, said what the governor is seeking from state workers is fair and noted that private sector workers have had to tighten their financial belts because of job losses and pay cuts.

"Both Democrats and Republicans know that state workers do great work. But unfortunately many private sector workers who are also hard-working, good people either lost their job, took a pay cut or saw their benefit package reduced as a result of the recent economic downturn. Governor Walker's budget repair bill strikes a fair balance - asking public employees to make a modest 5.8% pension contribution, which is about the national average, and 12.6% health insurance contribution, which is about half the national average," Werwie said.

Under the proposal, most public workers could bargain over wages, but raises could not exceed the increase in the Consumer Price Index unless approved in a referendum. They would not be able to bargain over anything else and would have to have annual votes to keep their unions intact.

The bargaining law changes 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, while most other unions endorsed his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

Supporters say the measure will help fix the state budget once and for all. Detractors say it is an assault on worker rights.

The state AFL-CIO determines union policy on state issues and represents more than 250,000 public and private sector workers in more than 1,000 unions.

During a news conference on Sunday to announce the statewide ad campaign, the state AFL-CIO's president, Phil Neuenfeldt, said Walker was "using the Trojan horse of a budget bill" to propose a major change in state policy to erode the rights of working people.

Although the bill targets public employees, Neuenfeldt said Walker's move also is on private sector workers and the middle class.

"This is an attack not just on unions, but the entire middle class. Because as we fare around wages and benefits, so do those workers who are not represented," Neuenfeldt said.

The state AFL-CIO ads come on the heels of one by the Club for Growth that supports Walker's proposal and says public workers haven't had to make sacrifices while private sector workers have faced layoffs and pay cuts. "It's time state employees pay their fair share, just like the rest of us," the ad says.

State workers have called that claim unfair. They assert they make less on average in pay and benefits than similar private sector workers and also have taken unpaid furloughs over the last two years.