Wisconsin has proven to be ground zero in a brewing national debate about union wages and collective bargaining. Many states, in an effort to balance out-of-control budgets, are attempting to marginalize the power wielded by unions that have already been weakened by decades of declining membership. Some states have already barred collective bargaining in the form of strikes and walkouts, the last recourses for organized labor.

On Friday, a video was posted to YouTube showing uniformed Wisconsin firefighters parading into the capitol building with bagpipes:

These firefighters, as the narrator mentions, are technically exempt from the bill’s provision, yet they came to show support for fellow unions and were met with wild applause and cheering.

The labor debate is just heating up and will likely affect your community in the near future. Where do you stand? Do you think unions allow for dangerous government overspending? Or are they a necessary bargaining tool that keeps private interests in check and fights to maintain the rights of workers?