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…
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