Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was a good 260 miles east of St. Paul on Saturday afternoon, but for more than 1,000 people, he was reason enough to turn out on a bitterly cold and snowy day.

"Scott, the giant is awake," U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., told those at the rally on the State Capitol steps, where Walker's name was incessantly invoked as the enemy of America's middle class.

The demonstration was one of 50 planned by the liberal activist group moveon.org to be held nationwide to show support for the Wisconsin workers who have been locked in a struggle with Walker and the state's Republican legislative majority for nearly two weeks.

Similar rallies took place in Denver; New York City; Topeka, Kan.; Lansing, Mich.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere.

Billed as the "Rallies to Save the American Dream," the events took direct aim at Walker's plan to sharply curtail his state's public employees of their collective bargaining rights, which has become a national rallying point for labor, Democrats and progressive activists.

"We've got to get busy and keep the movement going," said Ellison, who heads the Progressive Caucus in the House and last week branded Walker "a dictator."

"All over the United States, all over the United States, in all 50 of them, people are standing up for worker rights and human rights," he said.

Eliot Seide, executive director of the Minnesota American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, noted that the national union was founded in Wisconsin in 1932. "The right of collective bargaining is an American right," he said. Referring to Walker, he said, "You will not stop collective action until we win."

A wide array of unions were represented in St. Paul, as were slogans on signs that hearkened back to labor's heyday -- and some only days old. Among them: "An injury to one is an injury to all," "Workers' rights are human rights," "Egypt, Libya, Wisconsin" and "Lutherans for working families."

"Today, we are all Wisconsinites," Seide said, leading the demonstrators in a chant, "WE ARE ONE."

Michael Landers, a unionized employee of the state Education Department, told the crowd that Walker's call for state workers to sacrifice falls on deaf ears.

"Governor Walker, our Wisconsin brothers and sisters have already sacrificed," he said. "Things are out of balance in Wisconsin ... he's trying to balance the budget on the backs of middle class workers, and we demand that Governor Walker restore the balance."

Shari Holstein, a Madison resident and social worker for Dane County, had come to the Twin Cities for a weekend family function after nearly two weeks on the front lines at the Wisconsin Capitol.

"This is so great to have people here after being there every day," she said from her place in the front row of the crowd, where she held a sign that said, "I am a public employee. I am a Badger. I am a union member. I am Wisconsin."

Krista Eduarte, a teacher's aide from Minneapolis who brought her two young sons to the rally, said she wanted to show them "it's important to know that regular people can gather and really make a difference. It's important we're here -- particularly for the teachers."

Bob von Sternberg • 612-518-3182