Posted Sunday, December 2, 2012 --- 2:01 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin's prison guards could vote as soon as next year in whether to break away from the Wisconsin State Employees Union.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports it's a bitter fight over election setbacks, discontent with labor leaders, and anger about working conditions 17 after the state all but eliminated public sector union rights.

Brian Cunningham, a guard at the Waupun Correctional Institution, says he's filed more than 1,900 signatures demanding a new union for about 5,800 prison workers, game wardens and other state employees classified as security and public safety workers.

WSEU director Marty Beil says the guards are in for a rude awakening if they succeed in forming an independent union with lower dues and a smaller staff, because they would lack sufficient resources to serve members.

Copyright 2012: Associated Press