"It definitely has lost support, but there's a caveat," Ensign said. "They say they can't support the bill 'as it stands now.' I get nervous when I hear that saying. This bill is a terrible bill no matter how you write it."

Labor leaders said they agree the bill has a future, despite faltering congressional support for it.

"We are still very optimistic," said Amber Lopez Lasater, a spokeswoman for the Nevada chapter of the Service Employees International Union. "Our opposition, which is against building the middle class, has been putting tremendous pressure on elected officials, but our job is to continue to demonstrate a groundswell of support, and to continue to educate all congressional members and make sure they have accurate information."

Added Alison Omens, a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C.: "We absolutely believe that labor-law reform is going to happen in 2009, and that it needs to and that it will remain true to the principles of the Employee Free Choice Act, which are that workers get a choice of how they want to form their union, there are real penalties for corporations who break the law and once workers choose to form a union, they get a contract."

The act would allow a majority of employees at a company to organize by signing cards. That's a change from current laws that let employers demand secret-ballot elections before a union can organize. It would boost penalties for retaliation against workers who support unions, and it could require binding arbitration within three months if management and the union can't agree on a contract.

Detractors say the measure would enable unions to harass and intimidate workers during organizing drives, and mandating arbitration would force a wedge between employers and employees. Supporters say the bill would level a playing field that overwhelmingly favors anti-union employers.

Ensign came to Las Vegas on Friday to foment grass-roots efforts against the bill. He and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce led an informational meeting that drew about 200 attendees to the Lindell Road warehouse of janitorial supplier Brady Industries.

At the event, participants received cards urging them to sign up for a free lunch at a local restaurant.

The crowd later learned about the unreadable small print that said anyone who submitted a completed card had just agreed to let a union represent them.

"That's a perfectly legal way to get signatures for card check, and that is exactly how a lot of these card checks take place," Ensign said. "It's deceptive, and it's a common practice."

It was only an experiment -- no one actually joined a union Friday -- but it proved an eye-opener for Anne Sutorius.

Sutorius, owner of ATM/Annie the Maid, attended the meeting because she wanted more information about the act.

"I was horrified and shocked beyond belief at the duplicity involved in card check," Sutorious said. "The print was so small it could not be read. Everyone fell for it. Everyone who was there trusted Brady (Industries). That's the scary part. An employee, simply by trusting someone they know, can have that trust turned against them. It's so not the American way. It's difficult to understand how it's gotten this far."

Lasater responded that the SEIU's membership cards are "very up front, in plain back and white." She also pointed to Ensign's record, which she said includes multiple votes against raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits.

"He hasn't exactly been a hero for Nevada's working families," Lasater said.

And Omens said the AFL-CIO has held 400 events nationwide, each drawing legions of workers seeking more power in their relationship with business.

"That's what the Employee Free Choice Act is all about -- giving workers back the freedom to bargain with the corporations who got us into this (recession)," she said.

But lawmakers seem increasingly wary of affording workers that ability.

The March 24 defection of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., stunned observers. Specter was the only Republican who supported the bill when it came before the Senate in 2007, and Democrats needed Specter's vote to forestall a filibuster.

Newspapers and Web sites ranging from Politico.com to The Hill described Specter's decision to rescind support of the bill as a "major blow" and a "death blow" to the act.

Since then, Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Jim Webb, D-Va., all have said they won't support the bill in its current form. On Tuesday, a spokesman for Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Solis supports the measure even as the Labor Secretary is leaving to Congress the best way to proceed on the issue.

Still, Ensign said he believes labor unions have invested so much in helping Democrats win Congress and the White House that they'll be loath to let go of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Among Nevada's five congressional delegates, Ensign and Rep. Dean Heller, a Republican, oppose the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic representatives Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus all signed onto the bill as cosponsors.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.