Andrew Stern

Andy Stern (b. 1950) since 1996 has been the president of the powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest, most aggressive and most liberal of American labor unions.

The son of a wealthy lawyer, Stern became radicalized as a student at the Ivy league University of Pennsylvania (BA 1971). he became a social worker and joined the SEIU, then a much smaller union. A brilliant, tireless organizer, he moved up rapidly to president of his local and then to chief organizer nationally for the union.

Further reading

• Fink, Leon, and Brian Greenberg. Upheaval in the Quiet Zone: 1199/SEIU and the Politics of Healthcare Unionism (2nd ed. 2009)
• Stern, Andy. A Country That Works: Getting America Back on Track (2006), a primary source explaining his ideas excerpt and text search