There's a reason organized labor is suddenly showing signs of life.

[Omaha Steve]

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/16/8390290/index.htm?section=money_latest



The new face of labor
There's a reason organized labor is suddenly showing signs of life. His name is Andy Stern. He's like no union boss you've ever seen.
By Rik Kirkland , Fortune contributor
October 10 2006: 1:54 PM EDT

(Fortune Magazine) -- In a sunlit office overlooking Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., union leader Andrew Stern, 55, is sipping coffee and holding a midmorning meeting with a few top aides. The subject is a study on the future of government - a topic of deep interest since roughly half the 1.8 million members of his Service Employees International Union (SEIU) work in the public sector. It's solid leader-as-visionary stuff but fairly predictable until, as things wind to a close, Stern suddenly kicks it up. Way up.
A battle brews in Congress

"One last thing," he says. "I really think it's critical you reach out to hear from Grover Norquist or Stephen Moore," referring to two influential Republican advocates of the slash-taxes-and-starve-the-government approach to fiscal policy. "You need to understand what they think is core and what might be privatized."


The color purple: At a rally for janitors in Miami, Stern wears a shirt in the SEIU's trademark hue.

Stern pauses and looks around the room. "We all know what will happen if we talk only among ourselves. We'll end up wanting to preserve everything. And that just ensures we'll be fighting a war of attrition, where it's all about 'How do we hang on to these 100 jobs?' " People start to nod, and he breaks into a wide grin. "Nobody wins a war of attrition. What we need to figure out is ... how we can go on the offensive."

That's not just the coffee talking. While most labor generals have spent their careers waging the Long Retreat - the percentage of U.S. workers who belong to a union has fallen from a third in 1950 to barely 12 percent today - Stern stands out as a leader who knows how to attack. And win.

FULL story at link above.

The 60 minutes segment on him a few months ago was great too.

[Cha]

1. Seems like one cool

dude! The changing face of the Union boss.