Andy Stern has picked a good time to head for the exits. The president of the Service Employees International Union—otherwise known as the most powerful labor chief in America—is expected to step down later this week, two years before the end of his term, on a high note for his union and the “progressive” agenda. The job is going to be a lot less fun from here on out.
In future histories of America’s metamorphosis into a European-style entitlement state, Mr. Stern will deserve prominent mention. As union rolls were falling, Mr. Stern used his 14 years atop the SEIU to slow the decline, nearly doubling the size of his outfit—to 1.8 million members.
But more than that, Mr. Stern showed how a diminished union movement could use its coffers to turn the Democratic Party into a wholly owned subsidiary. During the 2008 electoral cycle, his union championed Barack Obama early and devoted at least $85 million to get him into the White House and to elect huge Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. No other group spent more on either party than the SEIU.
Mr. Stern got his money’s worth. In a Weekend Interview in these pages a month after the election, he listed his top priorities, in this order: A “massive” stimulus for the economy and the car industry, universal health care and a “card check” bill to ease unionization. The next Administration needs to find ways “to share the wealth differently,” he said, through higher taxes and wider unionization.
In short, turn America into France. “Western Europe, as much as we used to make fun of it, has made different trade-offs which may have ended with a little more unemployment but a lot more equality,” he said.
On all those policy priorities, save for “card check,” Big Labor got its way. Having tilted the Democratic consensus on health reform leftward, Mr. Stern came through for the President by bringing Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke on board behind ObamaCare. First, he spent years making Wal-Mart a Democratic piñata, then he promised relief if the company would do what he wanted.
Two of his closest aides have also taken critical Administration jobs: Patrick Gaspard as the political director at the White House, and Craig Becker, who needed a recess appointment to get a seat on the National Labor Relations Board.
Now clouds are gathering. The SEIU is $85 million in debt and laying off workers, promising to crimp Mr. Stern’s lavish political spending. Various fights that Mr. Stern picked with other unions and his own locals are sapping resources and time. Government investigators are poring over allegations of corruption involving SEIU officials, while its connections (and $62,828 in donations last year) to the disgraced activist group Acorn have come under scrutiny. The Justice Department is looking into Mr. Stern’s political activities to see whether he should have registered as a lobbyist. Democrats are also headed for losses in midterm elections.
A good time to leave, in other words, and after 37 years at the SEIU Mr. Stern can claim a full pension and lifetime health benefits. But at 59, he’s not the retiring type. President Obama named him in February to the deficit-reduction commission, on which he can stump for a value-added tax, leading perhaps to an Administration job. He’s certainly earned it.
