John Ensign's Blog

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday that Senator Ensign "refuses to get complacent" and is continuing to lead the fight against card check:

The Employee Free Choice Act has lost several key congressional advocates, but Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., refuses to get complacent.

Ensign, who opposes the bill, said Tuesday that he believes it still enjoys solid prospects for passage.

"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.

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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 ... ."

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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."

Senator Ensign continues to uphold his pledge: "I will not stop until card check is dead."

Help Senator Ensign stop the Employee "No" Choice Act by joining the Protect The Secret Ballot Facebook group.