PHILADELPHIA — A newspaper says Pennsylvania labor leaders are turning up the pressure on Republican Sen. Arlen Specter to support so-called “card check” legislation that makes it easier to unionize workers.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today that state AFL-CIO president Bill George says he and other labor leaders will help Specter survive a primary election challenge if he backs the Employee Free Choice Act. The act would allow organizing based on employee signatures, and employers couldn’t force a secret ballot.

He told The Associated Press earlier this month he will vote his conscience and his arm is “not twistable.” And he tells KDKA in Pittsburgh “I do not make deals like that.”