You know it’s not going to be nice article when the headline is “Andrew Stern departs the SEIU now weakened by infighting and expenses.” You know its going to be uncomfortable when the article is the Washington Post.

Worth your time, the article by Alec MacGillis offers a refreshing realistic to the legacy of Andy Stern, the man no longer the king in the Purple Palace. From the Washington Post:

“In celebrating her election last weekend to the head of the Service Employees International Union — the fastest-growing and most politically active union — Mary Kay Henry vowed to “build on the success” of Andrew L. Stern, the charismatic and ambitious labor leader who is taking his influence to new arenas, such as President Obama’s deficit commission. But the state of the union Stern is leaving behind is more mixed than Henry let on.”

“Even as Stern turns his attention to the nation’s spending problem, his own union’s spending — notably the multimillion-dollar tab from internal battles he has waged — is drawing sharp criticism from within the labor movement. Stern has expanded his union, but his decisions have left it, and the labor movement as a whole, financially strapped, according to disclosure reports that have received little scrutiny.”

Read more at washingtonpost.com.