Topeka ? Approximately 500 people rallied Saturday outside the Capitol to show solidarity with workers in Wisconsin and other states, and protested Republican-supported anti-union legislation in Kansas.

“We’re out here supporting the middle class,” said Marcia Weeks, who traveled from Pittsburg to attend the rally.

Chris Mann, a teacher from Kansas City, Mo., said union members are “getting trounced. It’s time to take a stand.”

Dennis Gallie, also of Kansas City, Mo., said, “I hate to see public employees blamed for the shortfall in revenue.”

The rally was part of a nationwide effort by labor and political groups to show support for public employees in Wisconsin where Gov. Scott Walker is trying to strip unions of most of their collective bargaining rights.

In a news conference on Friday, House Democratic Leader Paul Davis of Lawrence said House Republican leaders in Kansas were taking a page “out of the playbook of Scott Walker, or perhaps it’s the Koch brothers playbook.They are trying to ram in an agenda that takes rights away from working Kansans.”

In Kansas, the House this week, with only Republican support, approved a bill that would prohibit union members from having fees withheld from their checks for political activities. The measure is backed by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity. Both of those groups receive funding from the Koch brothers, who lead Wichita-based Koch Industries and donate to numerous causes that tout reduced government regulations.

The measure now goes to the Senate.

“I would encourage Senate Republican leadership to make sure that never sees the light of day,” said Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka.

Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, said he didn’t know how much support the bill had in the Senate. It has been assigned to the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

Jane Carter, executive director of the Kansas Organization of State Employees, said House Bill 2130 was one of many proposals from Republican leaders that would hurt Kansas families.

She said those include efforts to privatize more state services, close the Kansas Neurological Institute, which has been proposed by Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, and proposals to cut state workers’ pay.

On Thursday, about 50 union members were kicked out of the House gallery after shouting “vote no” when the House was voting on House Bill 2130. Republican leaders have denounced the union members’ behavior.

But union supporters at the rally on Saturday said it was anti-union legislators who were trying to take away the ability of organized labor to participate in the political process. “You don’t take somebody’s voice away from them,” Weeks said.