Andy Stern

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Andrew L. "Andy" Stern
Born	November 22, 1950 (1950-11-22) (age 59) West Orange, New Jersey
Nationality	United States
Education	B.A., 1971
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania
Title	International President, SEIU
Term	1996–present
Predecessor	Richard Cordtz
Successor	incumbent
Political party	Democrat
Board member of	Rock the Vote Center for Community and Corporate Ethics (Chairman) International Executive Board, SEIU National Academy of Social Insurance AFL-CIO Housing and Building Investment Trust Independent Advisory Council, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) Formerly, Executive Committee of the Democratic Party auxiliary America Coming Together (ACT)
Religious beliefs	Judaism[1]
Notes [2]

Andrew L. "Andy" Stern (born November 22, 1950), is the president^[3] of the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the fastest-growing union in the Americas. SEIU is the second largest union in the United States and Canada after the National Education Association.^[4][5] Stern was elected in 1996 to succeed John Sweeney. Stern is intent upon influencing federal legislation that helps revitalize the labor movement through universal health care, expanding union ranks via the Employee Free Choice Act (commonly known as “card check”) ^[6], stronger regulations on business, profit sharing for employees, and higher taxes, efforts consistent with a new global economic model that moves American businesses away from traditional, free-market capitalism ^[7].

For his talent at recruiting new members, Stern has been described as the "most important labor boss in America"^[8]. Stern is unapologetic about targeting private equity firms, shaming business leaders, and competing to build SEIU's membership: “We like to say: We use the power of persuasion first. If it doesn't work, we try the persuasion of power”^[9]. The share of workers belonging to a union in 2008 showed the largest annual growth rate since the first report in 1983.^[10] Growth in SEIU in 2008—88,926 members^[11]--accounted for nearly 21 percent of the national union membership growth.

Early life and career

Born the son of a lawyer in West Orange, New Jersey, Stern was a student leftist in the 1960s. He began college as a business major at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business but ultimately graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in education and urban planning.^[12][13] After graduation, he spent time traveling in Europe and trained in the tactics of radical activism at the Midwest Academy^[14], an educational institute formed by former Students for a Democratic Society member Paul and Heather Booth to teach leftist community organizers how to promote social change and infiltrate the labor movement^[15]. Stern began his career as a welfare case officer and member of the SEIU in 1973, eventually being elected president of his Pennsylvania local.^[13] In 1980, he was elected to the union's executive board, and in 1984 the union's then-president Sweeney put him in charge of its organizing efforts. Stern is a big backer of the Employee Free Choice Act.

In 1996, Stern was elected to the presidency of the union. After launching a national debate aimed at uniting the 9 out of 10 American workers who have no organization at work, SEIU, along with the Teamsters, announced on July 25, 2005 that they were disaffiliating from the AFL-CIO.^[16] Stern led SEIU out of the AFL-CIO and founded Change to Win ^[17], a six-million member federation of seven major unions dedicated to giving workers a voice at their jobs.

Internet and New Media

Stern has embraced political organizing via the Internet in the wake of the Howard Dean campaign, which his union endorsed.^{[citation needed]} In fall of 2005, he launched an online contest called Since Sliced Bread that awarded $100,000 for the best new economic idea in America. Since 2005, Stern has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post^[18] and actively uses Twitter.^[19]

Stern has been a key figure in financing the online grassroots community Netroots, along with Dean, George Soros, Simon Roseberg, and Andy Rappaport, to funnel a progressive agenda to liberal bloggers^[20].

Through Stern's initiative, a New Media team was formed at SEIU in the late summer of 2008. The union's website, SEIU.org, was completely redesigned and relaunched shortly after. Traffic to SEIU's website has since increased^[21] by well over 100,000 visitors.

A Country That Works

Stern is the author of the book, A Country That Works ^[22] (Free Press), in which he claims globalization and the perceived widening economic gap between rich and poor are the primary problems facing the world^[23]. The book calls for unions to be the dominant vehicles for the promotion of social reforms, including espousing the benefits of increased taxation on the wealthy and universal health care. On October 3, 2006, he appeared on The Colbert Report to promote his new book A Country That Works. On October 4, he appeared on Democracy Now! ^[24] to promote the book.

Family

Stern is divorced from Jane Perkins, a former head of the environmental network Friends of the Earth.^[25] They have two children, Matt and Cassie. Cassie died in 2002.^[1]

Stern has a brother Ken a lawyer in Colorado, Tom a lawyer in North Carolina, a sister Ellen an attorney in Washington, D.C., and a sister Tricia a social worker in New Jersey. His mother Sue lives in Colorado.

Political Influence

Through Stern's leadership, the SEIU has funneled vast amounts of financing to the Democratic Party and its candidates, far outnumbering the contributions of other unions during the last two election cycles. SEIU contributed $65 million to the 2004 campaign^[26] by Sen. John Kerry to oust former President George W. Bush^[27]. The union spent another $85 million on Democratic candidates in 2008, at least $60 million going toward the election of President Barack Obama^[28].

Stern was an ardent supporter of the $787 billion stimulus bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009^[29], and the majority ownership of Chyrsler and General Motors by the United States Treasury^[30].

Stern has been the most frequent visitor to the White House since Obama's election^[31] . Between Inaguration Day and July 31, 2009, Stern visited the White House 22 times, meeting with the president seven times^[32].

Under Stern, the SEIU has poured millions into a group called Health Care for America NOW!, which set up pavillions at nearly every major health care protest in 2009, and has given the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) nearly $6 million since 2006 – including $250,000 in 2009 – according to U.S. Department of Labor disclosure and the union's own statements^[33]. The SEIU recently "cut all ties to ACORN" after a pair of amateur journalists who, dressed as a pimp and hooker, filmed themselves obtaining advice from ACORN staff members on how best to shelter the proceeds of a child-prostitution ring from taxation^[34]. The SEIU and ACORN have had joint bank acounts with Wells Fargo bank. Copies of their bank statements were retrieved in documents thought to be lost in Hurricane Katrina.

Organized Labour portal

Notes

External links

• Biography page from SEIU website
• Aaron Bernstein. "Can This Man Save Labor?" BusinessWeek. September 13, 2004.
• New York Times Magazine cover story on Stern, 30 January 2005
• Stern's Blog at the Huffington Post
• 60 Minutes Interview (May 14, 2006)
• A Country That Works: Getting America Back on Track
• Interview on Bill Moyers Journal (June 2007)
• Rik Kirkland, "The new face of labor", Fortune, October 10, 2006
• Video (and audio) of conversation with Andy Stern and Robert Reich on Bloggingheads.tv