Photo Gallery: Battle Over Collective Bargaining in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker capped three weeks of tumult on March 11, 2011, by signing a controversial bill that stripped most collective bargaining rights from teachers and other public employees. The measure had provoked massive demonstrations at the state Capitol in Madison, some exceeding 70,000 people. Democrats in the state Senate temporarily blocked the measure—part of the governor’s larger “budget repair” bill—by fleeing the state to prevent a quorum. But Republicans found a way to break the impasse by stripping spending measures from the bill and approving it by a simple majority.