Small business owners in southeast Wisconsin have been given an ultimatum by a local public sector labor union: Proudly display our pro-union sign in your storefront windows or we’ll boycott.

“Failure to do so will leave us no choice but (to) do a public boycott of your business,” states a letter to businesses from the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24. “And sorry, neutral means ‘no’ to those who work for the largest employer in the area and are union members.”

Reluctant business owners say they prefer to remain neutral in a battle that should be settled in the Capitol and not on Main Street. Rev. Jesse Jackson defended the union’s boycott effort to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel stating that it’s merely a “nonviolent tactic used to get attention to the steamroller tactics” of Wisconsin Republicans and Gov. Walker.

Call these anti-small business threats “non-violent” all you want. That doesn’t mean they won’t do a lot of damage to innocent bystanders if and when the union follows through.