SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias fled his native El Salvador when he was only five years old. His father was an activist who spoke out against wealthy landowners, forcing him and his family to “run out one night…in fear of our lives.” But it was his father’s example of standing up to power in the name of justice that ignited a deep commitment in Max to fight for worker rights and economic justice. His journey from London to Belize to Mexico to the U.S. and back to El Salvador—all before the age of 18— shaped Max’s belief in the power of ordinary people to transform their lives. In 2015, Max became the first Latino to lead the 35,000 education workers of SEIU Local 99. His path as a Union Organizer began in Michigan in 2001, where he joined SEIU’s home care organizing campaign.
He later moved to Chicago where he worked with SEIU Local 4 and SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana as an Organizer and created and implemented a successful Steward Training Program. In 2009, he joined SEIU United Health Care Workers West where he served as the Assistant Director of Collective Bargaining and Representation for the Hospital Division in Oakland, CA. Max says he draws inspiration for his work from the members of SEIU Local 99 – from the food service workers, special education assistants, custodians, bus drivers, child care providers and other dedicated education workers ‐ a majority of them people of color. He’s also inspired by Farabundo Marti’s selfless and unyielding commitment to workers’ rights. “I strongly feel that only through the struggle of workers can we dream of a society in which we can provide for our families – one where our children will have access to a good education, safe neighborhoods, and enough to eat,” says Max. “Our jobs should allow us to provide them with all of that, and the opportunity to succeed.”