This piece from Capitol Weekly is a must-read. It profiles Courtni Pugh, the sharpest labor strategist I met during my admittedly brief time covering labor for the LA Times. It also reports that SEIU California may be close to backing the redistricting reform initiative on the November ballot. Such an endorsement could be a game-changer for that initiative, whose political prospects have not been good. And if SEIU is looking at such an endorsement, it's a good bet that the union has a lot of research and numbers that suggest that changing the reapportionment rules might make it easier to elect more labor-friendly politicians to office.

The Service Employees International Union  Executive Council in California has a new executive director, Courtni Pugh. She's been a key behind-the-scenes player around the state, perhaps most notably in labor's successful fight against Gov. Schwarzenegger's slate of ballot initiatives during the 2005 special election.