It launched major North American campaigns “Justice for Janitors”,[15] “Stand for Security”, “There’s No Place Like Home”, and set up offices around the world to lead transnational global accountability efforts for Sodexo, Securitas, and ISS.

The Washington Business Journal profile was headlined "Militant but pragmatic labor leader wants a vibrant D.C."[18] After launching a national debate[19] aimed at uniting the nine out of ten American workers who have no organization at work, SEIU, along with the Teamsters, announced on July 25, 2005 that they were disaffiliating from the AFL-CIO.

[20] Stern led SEIU out of the AFL-CIO and founded Change to Win,[21] a six-million-member federation of seven major unions "dedicated to giving workers a voice at their jobs."

During the years of Stern's leadership, the SEIU became the largest political action committee in the United States,[22] and funneled vast amounts of financing to the Democratic Party and its candidates, far outnumbering the contributions of other unions during his last two election cycles.

[23] In 2008 SEIU sponsored with the Center for American Progress (CAP),[24] the first Presidential election forum, on health care, and required all candidates seeking the union's endorsement to “Walk A Day In My Shoes” including Senator Barack Obama as a home care worker[25] Hillary Clinton as a nurse, and Joe Biden as a school maintenance worker, and have a plan for universal healthcare.

SEIU poured millions into a group called Health Care for America NOW!, which, at times, fought strongly for universal healthcare including single payer.

[39] Stern has been a key figure in financing the online grassroots "netroots" community, along with Dean, George Soros, Simon Rosenberg, and Andrew S. Rappaport, to funnel a progressive agenda to liberal bloggers.

[45][46] Rosselli and other ousted leaders reformed under the National Union of Healthcare Workers and pushed for UHW West members at 60 facilities to vote to decertify SEIU.

[52] Health care employers, often at odds with SEIU, begrudgingly wrote, "Regardless of how you feel about Andy Stern, president of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union, there is no denying that he is the most important labor leader of his generation."

A Country That Works (Free Press), Stern calls for unions to be the dominant vehicles for the promotion of social reforms, including espousing the benefits of increased taxation on the wealthy and universal health care.

[57] In 2016, Stern authored a book with Lee Kravitz entitled Raising the Floor,[58] discussed his exploration into the future of work and jobs leading to his leadership on providing cash, and a guaranteed income for all American.

[59] Stern's book and conversations helped spark Andrew Yang’s candidacy for President[60] promoting his platform of creating a universal basic income.

[66] In 2017, Stern married Jennifer Johnson, a former Communications Director for the Center for Food Action in northern NJ, and the mother of Claire, Alex, and Isabel Beckenstein.