The First Amendment -- and Madison, Wisconsin

The First Amendment doesn't just protect religious and speech rights. Here is the whole text:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Peaceful assembly and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances are fundamental rights.

A public employees' union and the demonstrations supporting it are, it could be argued, forms of assembly protected by the First Amendment.

Further, it could be argued that unions are the means through which government employees the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

I have not heard of these arguments being used to assert and protect the rights of government employees to organize and to negotiate working conditions and wages through union representatives. But I wonder if it would be worth a try.

http://civilliberty.about.com/od/firstamendment/tp/First-Amendment.htm