Stern, president of SEIU, to resign

Former Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern

Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 150,000 nursing home workers, will resign from his post “very soon,” according to sources inside the union.

The unexpected news of the labor leader's departure broke Monday morning when the president of one SEIU local relayed Stern's retirement plans to staffers, Politico.Com reported. Another SEIU official confirmed the report and speculated that passage of healthcare reform, one of Stern's, and the union's, top priorities, was a “good culmination” to his career, according to Politico. Stern has led the 2-million-member union since 1996. It is the largest union of healthcare workers.

Stern, 59, has not publically announced his plans to retire from SEIU. He is expected to address the issue at the end of a SEIU leadership meeting in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Politico reported. The SEIU, under Stern's leadership, along with the Teamsters, Unite Here, United Farm Workers and three other unions broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005. They formed a federation called Change to Win.