This Is Nice

The esteemed Service Employees International Union is set to officially name a new President. And that President is poised to be the first women President in the union's history, as well as the first openly gay leader of the SEIU.

With the retirement of current President Andy Stern, the big union groups from across the country have chosen Mary Kay Henry over Stern's preferrer choice Anna Burger as the next person to lead the SEIU (and guarantee her position on the chalk board next week of the Goldboy nutty one).

As Ben Smith notes in one of the rare Politico pieces I will ever link in a post coming from me, the SEIU wanted a change from the pace they were clearly on in regards to their focus:

Stern turned SEIU into a political juggernaut, with millions of members, an activist tradition, and a willingness to spend more than $30 million electing President Obama the ultimate mark of its emergence as arguably the most important independent political force in America. Stern was a key figure in, first, putting health care atop the Democratic Party's agenda, and then urging it through Congress after some Democrats lost hope this winter.

The vote for Henry is a vote to move away from that tradition. Local leaders are supporting her despite Burger's strong Washington ties, and in the hopes of turning SEIU back into a more traditional union. Her election would likely speed the reconciliation of SEIU and the rest of the labor movement, and elevate AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka into the undisputed leadership of the labor movement.

In the mist of hearing all the insanity from out in Arizona over "The Lou Dobbs" or the "Papers Please" Bill, this sure is some pleasant progressive news to read about, isn't it?

Funny enough, because they are really a bunch of unhinged lunatics, probably the most comprehensive review of Henry appearing as the next SEIU President is from the Brietbaclypse's site.

But I will let you Google that instead of disrespecting our minds by offering that post's URL.