Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Hmmmm… SEIU Chief Andy Stern and Most Common White House Visitor Resigns

POSTED AT 10:25 PM ON APRIL 12, 2010 BY ALLAHPUNDIT – Hot Air

Says Patrick Ruffini, “How does the most powerful man in Democratic Washington leave, just like that? Something’s fishy…” Indeed.

The President of an SEIU local based in Seattle, Diane Sosne, broke the news to her staffers at 11:35 this morning, local time.

“Last night I received confirmation that Andy Stern is resigning as President of SEIU. He has not yet made a public announcement; we will share the details as we become aware of them,” Sosne wrote in an email obtained by POLITICO.

Sosne offered no explanation for the move.

Sosne isn’t seen as a Stern loyalist or a central union player, but she’s a respected former nurse who sits on the international’s board as president of SEIU Local 1199NW, which represents nurses. She and her assistant didn’t respond to questions about the email. Stern’s spokeswoman also didn’t immediately respond to a question about the email.

The boss emeritus was kind enough to put a long excerpt from her book’s chapter on Stern online, so read that as background. When Ruffini calls him the most powerful man in Democratic Washington, he’s not kidding: Not only did Stern log more visits to the White House last year than anyone else but, as Ben Smith reminds us, he championed Craig Becker’s NLRB appointment and was himself appointed to Obama’s new deficit commission (which shows you how productive that’ll be in cutting costs). I assume there’s a scandal brewing and that he simply jumped before he was pushed, but I’m trying to talk myself into believing that this has something to do with the Supreme Court vacancy. I know that’s insane — The One, by all accounts, is looking for a nominee who won’t spark partisan outrage and Stern is the antithesis of that — but the prospect of a Borkian confirmation carnival in the Senate is simply too glorious to let go of the thought just yet. Even by the standards of Democratic presidents The One is a union crony par excellence, so maybe he’d give this a moment’s thought. And remember, on the day Stevens resigned, I argued that this might be his last, best chance to put a hard leftist on the Court. So how about it, huh?I want to believe. Except … I don’t. Alas, it’s just too insane. Bummer.

HuffPo has confirmed Politico’s scoop and claims that Stern was “tired of the daily grind,” which, for a guy quitting at the apex of his political power, is about as convincing as the ol’ “I want to spend more time with my family” standby. Exit question: If Stern does get nominated to the Court, can we call this guy to testify?

Blowback

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WSJ:  Labor's Stern Said to Be Resigning

By KRIS MAHER

Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union and one of the most prominent and powerful labor leaders in the country, is expected to resign his position with the union, according to an internal union email and one of the union's board members.

Mr. Stern's departure would cause a major realignment of the balance of power within organized labor, from labor-management relations to Washington lobbying efforts. It's not clear when an official announcement of his resignation will come or when it would take effect.

Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern, in 2009.

andystern0412

Associated Press

He has been credited with making the 1.8 million member SEIU one of the fastest-growing and most politically powerful unions. It spent more than $65 million in 2008 to help elect Barack Obama and Democratic majorities in Congress.

A member of SEIU's executive board said he received a phone call from SEIU's second-highest-ranking officer, Anna Burger, asking for his support as she sought to succeed Mr. Stern.

"He is resigning. They haven't given an exact date," said the board member.

The board member said that Mary Kay Henry, an SEIU executive vice president who oversees the union's long-term-care division, is also seeking to lead the union. "Right now it looks like it's between Anna Burger and Mary Kay Henry," he said.

Mr. Stern didn't return a phone call seeking comment. Ms. Burger, Ms. Henry and an SEIU spokeswoman couldn't be reached.

On Monday, Diane Sosne, president of a SEIU local in Washington state, sent an email to some SEIU staff that read, "Last night I received confirmation that Andy Stern is resigning as president of SEIU. He has not yet made a public announcement; we will share the details as we become aware of them."

The email was first reported in the Politico Web site.

Ms. Sosne didn't return an email message, and her office didn't return a call Monday.

Mr. Stern is well known among the business community for directing aggressive campaigns against companies in the janitorial and health-care sectors aimed at getting companies to remain neutral during union organizing drives.

Mr. Stern angered some in the labor movement when he pulled his union and several others out of the AFL-CIO in 2005, splitting the labor movement in half.

He and other leaders, including James Hoffa of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, went on to form the rival Change to Win federation. But the federation failed to gather momentum, and its executive director recently left.

Another union in the group, Unite Here, recent pulled out and rejoined the AFL-CIO in the midst of a long fight with SEIU over organizing in the hotel sector.

Over the past two years, Mr. Stern has been engaged in several internal union battles with California locals representing long-term nursing and other workers that were merged together, as part of the union's strategy of creating mega-locals focused by sector. "There will be quite an internal battle as to who succeeds him. There will be a lot of knives out there," an official with another union said on condition of anonymity.

Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com

Monday, April 12, 2010

Update: SEIU's Andy Stern Set to Resign

Posted by: Meredith Jessup at 9:33 PM

Politico is reporting that SEIU thug President Andy Stern, one of the nation's most prominent and powerful labor leaders, is planning to resign from his position, according to a member of the union's board:

The President of an SEIU local based in Seattle, Diane Sosne, broke the news to her staffers at 11:35 this morning, local time.

"Last night I received confirmation that Andy Stern is resigning as President of SEIU. He has not yet made a public announcement; we will share the details as we become aware of them," Sosne wrote in an email obtained by POLITICO.

Sosne offered no explanation for the move...

Stern, even without the union presidency, would remain on, among other things, the board of President Obama's deficit commission, to which he was appointed in February.

Hmm... I wonder what spot is opening up in the Obama administration...

Update: Maybe this ongoing case has something to do with Stern's surprising resignation?

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