Andy Stern Quotes

When I left SEIU, we had started this quality public service agenda to say to our members what I think the United Auto Workers learned: that quality is our only job security in the long run.

Unions should not be lapdogs to a political party, they should be watchdogs for their members’ interests.

The union is much more than me, and when you think the union is you and it’s not about who you represent, I think you’ve sort of lost your morals and focus and the purpose of your leadership.

The question is always ‘What is the role of a labor movement?’ How much is about collective bargaining, how much is about social change for all workers?

I was too much of a victim of the model I created. I tried Change to Win and helping Obama, and then I just ran out of Andy Stern ideas.

The AFL-CIO is a structure that divides workers’ strength by allowing each union to organize in any industry, then bargain on its own, even when workers share a common employer.