The Cheddar Rebellion is about all of us.

The workers of Wisconsin are walking like Egyptians.

I have a confession to make – a dark secret I reveal with great trepidation.

I am a public employee. I am an IT geek for the State of Oregon.

That’s right. I am one of those greedy bastards who would rather strike than give up our collective bargaining rights. I am a card-carrying, dues-paying member of a public sector union.

Still with me? Thanks. I promise to keep my horns and pitchfork as unobtrusive as possible.

Over the years I have been painfully aware that my counterparts in private industry earn more than I do. But some of us work for the government not just for the money, but really, honestly for public service. We appreciate the relative job stability and the nice benefits, but the idea of working hard for something we believe in is a powerful motivator.

I had a supervisor who often said to me, “Every day you come in to work, you are helping the state of Oregon.” There have been days when that’s the one thing that convinced me to get out of bed.

But as much as we love our jobs, we’re fond of our rights too. Collective bargaining is a right our forefolk fought hard for. We signed a contract and we went to work. We assumed the state would return the favor by honoring the contract that they signed on that other dotted line.

Apparently, the election of a Republican governor is enough to void state workers’ contracts.

We faceless bureaucrats dodged a bullet here in Oregon, when Democrat John Kitzhaber (he used to be governor) barely squeaked past Republican Chris Dudley (he used to play basketball) in the governor’s race last year. Because if Chris Dudley was our governor, I have no doubt he’d be asking us to give up our collective bargaining rights too, just like the workers in the midwest are being asked to do by their Republican governors.

And just like the faceless bureaucrats in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, we would be saying NO. Real, real loud.

The Cheddar Rebellion in Wisconsin has sparked a lot of debate about the role of unions in this budget-cutting era. “We need to live within our means,” I hear people say. And I always wonder, why can’t rich people live within their means? Their means are really great. They could actually make do with a lot less than their current means, and still have nice yachts and summer villas and trips to Bermuda or wherever the hell rich people go.

It would be very American of them to volunteer to make that sacrifice; the other 99% of their fellow Americans are already living on debt. There are no holes left to tighten their belts any further.

And yet, last December both major parties agreed to burn $860 million on tax cuts for the super-wealthy who, this lower-middle-class union member contends, don’t need it and won’t even notice its absence. And now they want to balance the budget on the backs of teachers and firefighters and IT geeks.

As I say, a lot of us went to work for the state in the spirit of public service. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker obviously had another motivation. It has become increasingly apparent Walker’s overarching mission is to destroy our unions – and then reap fabulous rewards from his super-wealthy benefactors.

There’s not much that Americans agree on in these polarized times, but as the argument goes on in Wisconsin and escalates all over the country, people are beginning to notice that the bottom 99% of our populace have our backs against the wall – and the super-rich just can’t stop themselves from corrupting our politicians and picking our pockets.

If they manage to kill labor unions in this country, as they are surely trying to do, there will be no brake left to stop the slide in our standard of living. It’ll be Serf City, U.S.A.

Over the years, I’ve made a lot of snarky remarks about the ineffectiveness of the union. At some point, I might even have said, “I don’t know why we even need a union.” But the struggle of state workers in the midwest is a major eye-opener. Today, I am union and proud – because my brothers and sisters in Wisconsin are standing up for me, even in spite of my snarky comments.

It’s only right that I stand with them.

Watch our video in support of Wisconsin, “Walk Like An Egyptian,” on the Chopped Liver Productions web site, or on YouTube.