SEIU boss Andy Stern wouldn't mind if McCain gets elected

Stern's representatives say the San Mateo hearings on whether to oust Rosselli on corruption charges have nothing to do with politics. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall will decide whether there exists sufficient evidence that Rosselli misused union funds to call for his ouster. Marshall will then make a recommendation as to whether the local unit should be taken over by the national union. If the national union gets the go-ahead, Stern will decide whether to replace Rosselli and his lieutenants in a legal procedure known as trusteeship. The SEIU last week issued a statement suggesting no decision will be made until after the November elections: "We believe that this process will best serve our members and place the union at the leading edge of the reform effort in the labor movement."

The hearings follow disclosures that union leaders in Los Angeles and Michigan who allegedly diverted union funds to family members are now the subjects of a federal criminal investigation and a Congressional inquiry launched by Rep. George Miller. Stern has characterized his move to oust Rosselli as part of a union-wide cleanup of corrupt elements.

"It's not true," said Rosselli, stepping out Thursday from preparations for the hearings. He said Stern's attorneys have already sued the California health care unit based on the misuse of funds charges, and the lawsuit was dismissed in federal court without a hearing. "He's using this to divert attention from real corruption problems with appointees," Rosselli said of the current proceedings. "There's no fact to any of the accusations they're making against us."

In response, on Sept. 17 a group of local SEIU workers sued Stern in San Francisco federal court, claiming his moves against Rosselli were aimed at suppressing workers' free speech rights. Rosselli's unit also filed charges within the SEIU, accusing Stern of waging a "personal vendetta" against Rosselli, and "collaborating with anti-union employers to undermine UHW's organizing and collective bargaining efforts."

Employer collaboration has allowed Stern to rapidly expand his membership during the union-busting Bush years, emboldening him to break with the AFL-CIO in 2005 and declare his deal-cutting revolution the future of trade unionism.

If an Obama presidency would reward old-fashioned union organizing where workers are rewarded for threatening, cajoling, picketing, and even striking against their bosses, it's fair for Andy Stern to ask, "What's in it for me?"