Will the Queen of Labor, Anna Burger, take over where Andy left off?

Following yesterday's bombshell announcement--apparently, even senior SEIU officials were stunned--that SEIU boss Andy Stern is resigning from the purple behemoth he created, speculation now turns to who his replacement will be.

Washington odds are that the Queen of Labor, SEIU's Executive V.P. Anna Burger will get the nod.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

A member of SEIU's executive board said he received a phone call from SEIU's second-highest-ranking officer, Anna Burger, asking for his support as she sought to succeed Mr. Stern.

According to Fortune magazine, Ms. Burger (bio here) is "the most powerful woman in the labor movement."  As co-chair of George Soros' Democracy Alliance (PDF), Burger is also Chair of the failed Change to Win coalition (the group of unions that broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005) and also sits on President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

While we speculate about who Andy Stern's replacement will be, we find the manner in which his resignation was announced very peculiar.  It is unusually odd for a union boss of Stern's stature to quit without warning and even more so given the way in which the SEIU is famous for controlling its messaging.

Barring any illness, scandal or indictment, union bosses typically announce well in advance that they are retiring or moving on to other posts.  If, in fact, there is some scandalous reason for Stern's resignation, then Burger (as the id to Stern's ego) may not be the best candidate to fill his purple shoes.

We're sure there's more to this story, so we'll keep you posted...
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