On his first day off since leading workers through a mammoth strike that brought the Los Angeles Unified School District to its knees, Max Arias is sitting inside his office.
It features a desk, a couch, a guitar, and a strike poster signed with dozens of “thank yous.” The rather lean decorations, Arias admits, are a result of spending most of his time in the field connecting with workers.
Arias is the executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents 30,000 bus drivers, custodians, instructional aides, cafeteria workers and special education assistants at LAUSD.
He agreed to come in on Thursday morning, March 30, to talk about his unplanned journey to union stardom and the historic labor contract agreement he helped reach. Union members will vote on whether or not to ratify the deal next week, and are widely expected to back it.
He’s exhausted, he admits, toting a McCafé coffee and a sheepish grin, but his mind is on the future.
“I have a million thoughts about what’s next,” he said. “I just can’t stop thinking about next steps.”
After successfully rallying SEIU Local 99 workers to their first strike since 1969, Arias is now thinking about the bigger picture. When district officials tell labor leaders that they don’t have enough funding to meet their demands, he wants to have a solution ready.
“My next focus is the state of California,” he said. “How do we improve the funding in the state of California for education from the cradle to higher ed? “How do we push the state using our momentum and uniting with other organizations and people who care about this?”
At the same time, Arias is thinking about the union’s demands for its next labor contract. Because the passage of SEIU’s current contract was delayed by the pandemic, labor leaders will already be back at the bargaining table next year.
Arias wants to see even more hours for part-time workers, like special education assistants and a commitment to fully staffing all school positions.
When announcing the historic contract agreement on March 24, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho expressed hope that it would mark a new chapter for the district and its unions.
Alberto M. Carvalho, right, Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District shakes hands with Max Arias, Executive Director of SEIU Local 99 as Mayor Karen Bass looks on as they Los Angeles Unified School District reaches agreement with the SEIU Local 99 in Los Angeles on Friday, March 24, 2023. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
“A lot of people will choose to linger in the past or in the process, I choose to celebrate the present and envision the future,” said Carvalho. “And now I look forward to negotiating all other contracts in our community, guaranteeing that LAUSD is in fact the right place to work, the right place to learn.”
When Arias looks to the future, he sees more trouble brewing. And the union’s fight for respect is certainly not over, he added.
Part of his pessimism comes from the fact that the school district is still pursuing its legal effort to have the strike ruled unlawful through the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
“It’s a little concerning that the district, instead of recognizing, even after this massive strike, that there’s a problem here, are instead just trying to bear down on the charges to see if they can bust the union,” he said.
The problem he is referring to is his view that LAUSD treats workers poorly, which he says is reflected in multiple unfair labor practice charges the union has filed with PERB alleging harassment of workers, interference in strike activity and efforts to intimidate union members.
These charges were the basis on which SEIU Local 99 launched an unfair labor practice strike from March 20 to 23. Members of the teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), walked out in solidarity, leaving the district with little choice but to close schools for 420,000 students during the strike.
“Los Angeles Unified takes any allegation of unfair labor practices seriously and has investigated any isolated actions that run contrary to our policies and procedures,” said a district spokesperson.
However, the district contends that the strike was not motivated by incidents of unfair labor practices, but by economic concerns. District leaders argue that the strike was unlawful because the union did not complete the required steps to declare an economic strike.
“It’s important the district’s PERB filings continue so that there is accountability for following the law and the negotiation process is adhered to for future contracts,” said the spokesperson.
An administrative law judge will make a ruling on the matter when it is sent to trial in the coming weeks.
Arias also said it does not bode well that the school board approved recent changes to the academic calendars for students and teachers from 2023 through 2026, without, Arias claims, engaging in collective bargaining with its union. On Friday, March 31, UTLA filed an unfair labor practice chair regarding the new school day calendars.
The district invited labor leaders to discuss the proposed calendars, but says it was not required to engage in official bargaining because the calendars did not change the amount of instructional time.
When it comes to next year’s contract, Arias has already made it clear that the union is not afraid to take bold action.
“Striking is the last option always … but if we’re forced to strike again, we will,” he said at the March 24 press conference announcing the agreement reached between SEIU and the district.
The hardest part of going on strike – proving that it can be done – has already been accomplished.
“To me the biggest win (of the strike) is that our members realized their power,” said Arias, who invested extensive time building workers’ confidence in the run-up to their historic three day walk out.
It was the first strike by LAUSD service workers in more than 50 years, and Arias played an instrumental role in making that happen.
“There’s a reason that SEIU has not gone on strike since 1969,” said former Superintendent Austin Beutner. “For those who are struggling to get by it’s a really painful decision to forego days of pay.”
Beutner also said that it is hard for workers, many of whom have children who attend school in the district, to watch the consequences that a walkout has on students and families.
Some families were very upset over the decisions by Arias and other labor leaders to call a strike instead of accepting the district’s earlier contract offer — or remaining at the bargaining table.
“The superintendent offered them salary increases but they want more. They don’t think about the kids,” said Juan Jose Mangandi, a parent who helped organize a protest against the strike outside of SEIU Local 99’s headquarters on March 23.
Nevertheless, Max was able to convince union members that the pain caused to them and to families would be worth the results.
“It’s that trust Max built and the authenticity they see in his leadership, which caused them to follow him, caused them to believe that this was the right step to take,” Beutner said. “When he speaks, he speaks on behalf of his members’ interests. Max is not in it for Max.”
Thomas Lenz, a labor law attorney and adjunct law professor at USC, said that effective communication is one of the most important attributes of labor leaders.
“Successful labor leaders are going to be able to express the issues to the people they represent succinctly, and to identify opportunities and risk,” said Lenz. “It’s about making the message relevant to the workers, so that they feel confident that the union is working for the greater good on their behalf.”
Arias, for his part, believes his success is due to his fierce conviction in the power of labor, which he attributes in part to his upbringing.
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His parents were economists and political organizers in El Salvador, who fought for social justice and the redistribution of wealth during the 1970s and faced the risk of torture and death. They were exiled from the country when Arias was seven, but continued to contribute to the resistance from abroad. They were a huge source of inspiration for Arias.
“We lived in Mexico City in hiding, moving from place to place all the time, and it was really all for the fight of ‘how do we change the economic conditions for the people?’” he said. “There was a real fight and this was life and death.”
Arias grew up in between Mexico City and New Orleans before returning to El Salvador for university studies. After juggling multiple jobs and struggling to make ends meet, he decided to move back to America in pursuit of a better life.
He never deliberately set out to become a labor organizer, but the skill set came naturally to him.
He inadvertently organized his first labor movement at 17, when he convinced four of his McDonald’s co-workers to walk off their shift in protest of unfair treatment by their manager.
He later had an opportunity to intern with SEIU, a sprawling national union representing more than 2 million workers in the public sector, health care and property services.
He quickly rose through the ranks and was appointed executive director of SEIU Local 99 in 2015. The position has since become an elected position and he has won twice. While he was popular among his members, he wasn’t a widely known name in the labor organizing world.
The recent strike thrust him into the national spotlight, but despite the accolades he earned from politicians and labor leaders, his eyes are not currently set on a higher posting.
“I love my Local (99),” said Arias. “I’m not leaving this place.”