Chanting "this is what democracy looks like," 65,000 protestors descended on Wisconsin's legislature in the fifth day of mass demonstrations against a Republican plan to bust public workers unions.

Demonstrators who have camped out in the capitol dome since Tuesday insisted that they will not give up the fight against what they see as a broad plan by Republicans to undermine working people and the Democratic Party they support.

At least nine other Republican governors are considering bills that would curtail or eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers.

The battle in Wisconsin is seen as a test case which has exposed a fundamental national disagreement over who should pay for gaping budget deficits at the state, federal and local levels.

Newly-elected Republican Governor Scott Walker refuses to be bowed by the demonstrations, and insists that the only way to get his state's finances "on track" is to eliminate collective bargaining rights so public workers can't fight pay and benefit cuts.

This has nothing to do with the budget, said student Laura Steigerwald, who hoisted a sign calling Walker "Robin Hood's evil twin: steal from the poor and give to the rich."

"It's all political," she said.

"He's trying to break the unions because the unions are the Republican's only competition when it comes to big money in elections."

Many protestors were taking inspiration from the recent democratic uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, carrying signs declaring "Welcome to Tahrir Square" and "Walker like an Egyptian."

Jim Schneider, 69, waved a sign with a "Hosni Mubarak?" written next to a picture of Walker, who has refused to negotiate with the unions.

"The Egyptians have been a great example to us," the retired teacher said.

"What happens here is going to be very important to what happens in a lot of other states, just like the thing that happened in Egypt had an effect on a lot of other countries in the Middle East."

Schneider remembers the violence and strikes which rocked Wisconsin in the early 1950's as the state's public workers fought to become the first in the nation to win collective bargaining rights.

"I hope no one has to go through that again," he said.

The mood was festive as the sun shined on the towering white capitol building, whose marbled halls were filled with the sound of drums, horns and chants of "stop the bill" and covered with posters declaring "don't bully teachers" and "what's disgusting, union busting."

Marshals wearing signs saying "remember this is a peaceful protest" stepped in whenever exchanges became too heated between protestors and the groups of Walker supporters.

Most people simply wanted to reason with them, said Annette Krznarich, who was holding a sign declaring "private sector solos pay for public union mobs."

"It's not that we don't like unions - it's just the greed," she told AFP after explaining to one woman that her husband is a union member.

"It's a hard argument to make that my neighbor should have to pay more in taxes so I don't have to pay for my pension and health benefits," said her husband Greg Krznarich, a firefighter.

Jim Osheim, a former union member who is living off a pension he earned while working in an auto parts plant, also thinks the public unions need to be broken to keep taxes down.

"If they've got to lose their health care to keep the state solvent so they keep their hand out of my wallet, so be it," he said.

"I can't afford any more money out of my pocket to support their gravy train."

His sister Patty Osheim, a unionized electrician, shook her head and held up a sign saying "I'm with stupid."

Unions help raise the wages of all workers in the state by setting standards to peg compensation to and are responsible for introducing health and safety laws and the five-day work week.

"There are other places the state can get money," she said. "They gave taxes cuts to corporations. If he needs money, he can look there."