Madison — With no political compromise in sight on Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill, tens of thousands of demonstrators with strong opinions of their own converged Saturday inside and outside the state Capitol to chant, sing, wave signs, beat drums and march for their causes.

The march, believed to be the largest gathering at the Capitol since protesters began showing up last week, was huge but peaceful. There were no arrests, according to state officials.

The protesters descended on Madison as Walker, through a spokesman, rejected an overture from a Democratic state senator who said public employee unions had agreed to make financial sacrifices contained in the bill in return for the right to bargain collectively.

Cullen Werwie, Walker's spokesman, said in a statement that state Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) "should come to work and debate the bill while doing his job in Madison.

"Gov. Walker has repeatedly said that we won't negotiate the budget and we can't balance the budget on a hope and a prayer," Werwie said. "That remains true. State and local government need the flexibility to manage this and future budget crises. In addition, as government workers pay a modest amount toward their pension and health care premium, about half the national average, it is fair to give them the choice of additional savings on their union dues."

Walker's office reacted in response to Erpenbach, who said he had been informed that state and local public employee unions had agreed to the financial aspects of the measure.

Erpenbach's statement was backed by a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Education Association Council, who confirmed the agreement, and by Marty Beil, the head of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Erpenbach said the offer was "a legitimate and serious offer on the table from local, state and school public employees that balances Gov. Walker's budget."

"It would appear that Gov. Walker's only target is the destruction of collective bargaining rights and not solving the state's budget," Erpenbach said.

Erpenbach said the next move belonged to Walker.

"I don't see this coming to a head until the governor takes a look at this," Erpenbach said. "He has all he needs to balance the budget."

State Sen. Mark Miller (D-Middleton) agreed with Erpenbach.

"The governor got us into this mess by going too far," Miller said. He said local school districts and city councils across the state had the ability now to bargain with unions as a means of balancing budgets and negotiating cuts.

Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover) said Democratic senators were to meet in caucus again on Saturday night at an undisclosed location in Illinois.

Holperin said the senators expect to remain out of state through the weekend. But he said eventually they will have to make a decision to come back, either with Republicans agreeing to let collective bargaining stay intact, or by senators staying away long enough for the public to have enough time to study the legislation.

Pro-Walker protest

It was the fifth day of protests over Walker's budget-repair bill but the first day on which a large, organized pro-Walker rally countered the demonstrators.

The number of protesters opposed to Walker's bill, however, outnumbered by far the groups representing tea party organizations and other groups backing the governor.

All day, there was a heavy security presence around the Capitol. Outside, while groups were parading around the square and shouting slogans, police from multiple jurisdictions, some as far away as Brown County, were watching. State officials said as many as 500 officers were on duty, representing 40 different law enforcement agencies.

There were no arrests and no major incidents were reported, said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

"If the eyes of the nation and the world are truly upon us, then I think we've been able to show that democracy can work well, even if those who have passionate views on different sides come together" in competing rallies, DeSpain said.

Separated from union-sponsored gatherings by orange plastic barriers, several thousand tea party protesters and others supporting Walker gathered. Many were holding signs supporting the governor.

At one area in which both pro- and anti-Walker protesters had gathered, one side chanted, "Kill the bill," while another group yelled, "Pass the bill."

Tom Rynders, a Vietnam veteran in town to support Walker, was talking to a Journal Sentinel reporter when a union protester yelled at him, "This is about losing our rights as citizens." Replied Rynders, "I have rights, too."

Outside, pro-union protesters walked around the perimeter of the square, shouting their support for public employees. At times, the ambience seemed like Madison's venerable farmer's market on Capitol Square.

But once they approached the south side of the Capitol, where the tea party and pro-Walker groups were assembled, the shouting from both sides rose in intensity. Some of the signs read, "Do Your Job" and "The Gravy Train is Over."

At 6 feet, 8 inches tall, Jory Mikkonen of Milwaukee stood above the crowd and shouted loudly at the pro-union sympathizers, "Unions go home!"

Another protester yelled in response: "Get a degree!"

Mikkonen said, "Bring your legislators back, so we can pass the bill."

Yet another protester yelled to him, "You're ignorant."

"Maybe you should have voted on election day," Mikkonen shot back.

Mikkonen, a Marine Corps veteran, said he lost two jobs in manufacturing and now holds three different jobs, including working as a waiter and pizza deliverer, to support himself.

"Jobs are hard to come by, but I found something in less than a month," he said. "And these guys want more benefits at our expense."

But not all exchanges were so heated. Walker supporter John Poehling, 57, debated intensely but amiably for 10 minutes with a public employee. They shook hands and walked away.

"We had a dialogue, but we didn't change each other's mind," Poehling said with a smile.

Pete Skaar, 48, said he was a conservative who drove from northeastern Wisconsin to protest Walker's policies.

He stood on the square with a sign that read, "Conservative Ashamed of Walker."

"I just believe he's taken advantage of the crisis to push his political agenda, just like Obama with health care," Skaar said.

Skaar works with the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles in Peshtigo. He is represented by a state union, the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association, but is not a member.

Most of Walker's supporters had left Capitol Square by midafternoon, but not all.

In the afternoon, the sound from the dueling protesters was so loud that many of the tea party supporters couldn't hear the speakers. Instead they commiserated about teachers, complained about the missing senators and tried to shout down pro-union demonstrators.

Americans for Prosperity Executive Director Tim Phillips told his supporters on Saturday that the country is in the midst of a "revolution of fiscal sanity." He led tea party supporters in a rousing chant of "Do Your Job."

"We are going to win. We are going to win our nation and our values," said Phillips.

"The eyes of the entire nation are on you today," said Phillips, whose group helped organize the event to back Walker's budget-repair bill.

On the other side of the question was Laura Vernon, 57, of Milwaukee, a WEAC member and security officer in Milwaukee Public Schools for 35 years. She told a union rally elsewhere on Capitol Square that schools understand the importance of fighting bullying.

"It's my job to fight bullies every day, but we are being bullied," Vernon said.

Elsewhere on the square, doctors from numerous hospitals set up a station near the Capitol to provide notes covering public employees' absences, according to The Associated Press.

Family physician Lou Sanner, 59, of Madison told the AP that he had given out hundreds of notes. Many of the people he spoke with seemed to be suffering from stress, he said.

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) called on Democrats to return to Madison and said that all Republican senators are within three hours of the Capitol.

Fitzgerald emphasized Republicans have no plans to bargain over any aspects of the legislation, and that union officials' statements on Friday that they are willing to bargain on financial aspects don't change a thing.

"They (Democratic senators) need to come back and go to work," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald also predicted that Republicans would vote unanimously on the bill, even though some members, including Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) have expressed some reservations.

State Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) said it appeared any legislative activity would have to wait for Tuesday. Monday, he said, is a scheduled furlough day for state employees.

Fitzgerald also said that his members continue to be concerned about safety issues. He said that several senators have received threatening e-mails - he said Capitol police have told him not to elaborate - and some senators have had protesters show up at their homes.

"(Security) is very much on their minds," Fitzgerald said.