Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain estimated the crowd at 85,000 to 100,000 people, which would top the size of protests in Madison during the Vietnam War.
The demonstration, capping three weeks of public protests, came a day after Republican Governor Scott Walker signed into law a bill to eliminate most bargaining rights for many state government workers.
The state Legislature passed the measure this week after Republicans in the state Senate bypassed a Democratic boycott of the chamber.
The battle in Wisconsin has ignited a national struggle over efforts by several budget-strapped state governments to rein in union power.
Republicans say the measures are needed to gain control of deficit-ridden budgets. Democrats and their union backers say Republicans are ramming through union-busting proposals.
The confrontation with unions could be the biggest showdown with labor since President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers nearly 30 years ago.
The 100,000 were there to give a massive welcome to the returning Democratic state senators.
They are the unlikeliest of folk heroes.
But this group of once-obscure lawmakers -- a dairy farmer, a lawyer and a woman who is seven months pregnant, among others -- that fled this capital nearly a month ago, returned Saturday to the cheers of tens of thousands who once again packed the streets in protest.
Many in the crowd wore buttons or held signs bearing admiring nicknames for the group: the "Fighting 14," the "Fab 14" or, simply, "the Wisconsin 14." They chanted, "Thank you" and "Welcome home."
Republicans may have won the battle on busting the state's unions. But it's looking like the victory was Pyrrhic at best. Will this demonstration translate into political action over the next 19 months? We'll see. Wisconsin's state animal, the badger, is not exactly known for calm when riled in defense of its home. The badger has been awakened, and now the real battle begins.
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