MADISON, Wis. — With the labor movement suffering an epic defeat in Wisconsin, union leaders plan to use the setback to fire up their members nationwide and mount a major counterattack against Republicans at the ballot box in 2012.

Wisconsin’s measure stripping public employees of most bargaining rights swiftly advanced to GOP Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday, and he promised to sign it as soon as possible. But labor leaders say the events in Wisconsin have helped galvanize support for unions across the country. They hope to use the momentum to help fight off other attacks and grow their membership.

Said the president of the AFL-CIO: “I guess I ought to say thank you particularly to Scott Walker. We should have invited him here today to receive the Mobilizer of the Year award from us!”

As several states seek to follow Wisconsin’s lead, newly invigorated public unions are looking ahead to the next election. Democrats are pressing to recall Republican opponents of organized labor and turn the debate into a focal point of next year’s campaign.

The Wisconsin Assembly voted 53-42 Thursday to pass the bill after about three hours of discussion, far less than the 61-hour, three-day marathon it took to approve a previous version two weeks ago.

The passage drew shouts of “shame, shame, shame” from protesters in the gallery and came only a day after dramatic action in the Republican-controlled Senate, which used a legislative maneuver Wednesday to quickly adopt the bill without any of the 14 Democrats who fled to Illinois three weeks ago.