{"id":76375,"date":"2026-04-18T10:13:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/the-new-kid-on-the-block-in-lausds-union-coalition\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T10:14:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:14:05","slug":"the-new-kid-on-the-block-in-lausds-union-coalition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/the-new-kid-on-the-block-in-lausds-union-coalition\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘new kid on the block’ in LAUSD’s union coalition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When the heads of three Los Angeles Unified School District unions stood together at City Hall to announce their new contracts after going on strike hours earlier, one of them looked out of place.<\/p>\n

Max Arias was dressed in a purple letterman’s cardigan emblazoned with “99” for Service Employees International Union Local 99. Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, wore a tie-dye T-shirt that read “Solidarity LA.” <\/p>\n

And then there was Maria Nichols, who looks like she was once a school principal.<\/p>\n

Shiny black shoes. black trousers. Light makeup. Deep smile. The only glimpse of color was his green V-neck Union T-shirt, the logo peeking out from the black blazer.<\/p>\n

Arias and Mayart-Cruz gave impassioned speeches praising the last-minute deals, which still need to be approved by union members and the school board. Nichols, who leads the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles\/Teamsters Local 2010, started with a joke about his only year and 10 months as union leader.<\/p>\n

“I’m the new kid on the block,” the 60-year-old man said. “But we have made a commitment. It’s not about equality, it’s about parity. … We are all better today for our collective work.”<\/p>\n

AALA’s tentative contract calls for raises of more than 11% for LAUSD’s 3,000 principals, assistant principals and middle managers \u2013 a lower percentage increase than SEIU’s 24% and UTLA’s 14%. But the contract also secured a 40-hour week with flex time off for additional hours, resolving long-standing complaints about the grueling schedule.<\/p>\n

Apart from all this, Nichols has led his members into a new era. <\/p>\n

“For too long, principals have been treated as a separate class from other school staff,” Arias said at a City Hall news conference Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Not only are they the boss of many employees, but they make a lot of money, with an average salary of $160,139 for elementary schools and $174,628 for higher grades. When UTLA went on strike in 2019, AALA remained on the job. <\/p>\n

This time, AALA and the other two unions vowed that they would all go on strike together if any of them failed to get a contract. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo his coming,\u201d Arias continued, \u201creally shows our members that it’s important to start figuring out how we work in solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nichols “called us and said, ‘I know you guys are already working, but I want to join in,'” Mayart-Cruz said. “For leadership to be able to articulate that message to their administrators is a big deal. Solidarity is a big deal, but now we have unity.”<\/p>\n

“I may be the new kid on the block, but I’ve been fighting for better schools for 42 years,” Nichols told me later, smiling.<\/p>\n

We met a few days later at AALA’s Echo Park office. <\/p>\n

\u201cSorry about the mess,\u201d Nicholas said as we headed up to his corner suite. She now wore a bright red pantsuit, with a union pin on the lapel. Hundreds of signs reading \u201cEnough is Enough\u201d were leaning upside down on desks and cabinets. Chips, water and other snacks were piled inside the collapsed carts.<\/p>\n

“It was all going to be used for the strike,” he said. \u201cYou know what they say \u2013 hope for the best but prepare for the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/picture>\n
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AALA\/Teamsters 2010 President Maria Nichols hugs UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz during a press conference announcing a tentative agreement between LAUSD and the unions representing teachers, principals and workers at City Hall in Los Angeles on April 14, 2026. Above him is SEIU Local 99 President Max Arias.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The breakfast of blueberries and yogurt remained untouched as Nichols told his life story. She moved to Los Angeles from her native Peru at the age of 5 to join her parents, who had fled following a military coup. A star volleyball setter at Fairfax High, she gave up a scholarship to the University of Arizona her freshman year after breaking her wrist and finding it “too hard to watch the games and not be involved.”<\/p>\n

Returning home, she joined LAUSD as a bilingual teacher’s assistant while pursuing a degree in physical therapy at Cal State Northridge. Thanks to a succession of bosses whom she called “angels”, she remained in public education. She worked as an assistant, a teacher, and an assistant principal in San Fernando Valley elementary schools before serving for a decade as principal at Vena Avenue Elementary in Arleta, which was named a California Distinguished School during her tenure.<\/p>\n

This led to his promotion to regional director of Valley Schools, a job he loved despite the difficulties of the budget and declining enrollment. Nichols credited then-LAUSD Superintendent Austin Buettner for providing autonomy to principals in the district. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all administrators in the area who had spent time in this district and moved up the ranks,\u201d he said. “He disappeared with (current superintendent Alberto) Carvalho. Gone. Gone.” <\/p>\n

He pointed to a flow chart on the wall titled “Ready for the World”, which Carvalho’s team had distributed following his arrival in 2022. He said that instead of empowering the existing administrators, he brought in his own people. <\/p>\n

“It’s a brilliant plan,” Nichols said without any sarcasm as he read its goals aloud. “Because that’s what we want. But we don’t invest in employees because we have a shortage. …We can’t have happiness and well-being if your people are withering on the vine because they’re tired.”<\/p>\n

Conflict increased between principals and teachers over budget and educational strategies. Frustrated, Nichols attended her first AALA meeting about two years ago. <\/p>\n

“There were about 20 people there. And I thought, ‘This is it? This is where we are?'” she recalled.<\/p>\n

Some principals urged him to fight against the current president of the union. One of them was Kathy Galan-Jaramillo, whom Nichols appointed to lead the Sylmar Leadership Academy. <\/p>\n

Galan-Jaramillo said, “Our union was very small, and it was very difficult for us to stand up for what we believed in.” \u201cBut Maria knew all the things and obstacles that we (administrators) had to do and go through, and the expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

To prepare to negotiate a new contract, Nicholls studied the existing contract.<\/p>\n

“It was very weak. The language was very outdated,” she remembered, especially when it came to making sure members were not being overworked. “And then I looked at UTLA’s contract and I said, ‘Oh crap. No wonder they get everything.'”<\/p>\n

In late 2024, 85% of AALA members approved a Nichols-backed merger with the Teamsters 2010, which represents higher education workers in California, to increase their resources and attempt a different, tougher mindset.<\/p>\n

Teamsters 2010 Secretary-Treasurer Jason Rabinowitz, who sat with Nichols in contract negotiations, said, “He has what many leaders lack \u2013 he has the wisdom and humility to say, ‘I have things to learn and I’m ready to do it.’ “And she’s a learner and a quick study. It’s not always easy to do that, because labor leaders have egos.”<\/p>\n

After contract negotiations reached an impasse in February, Nichols reached out to Arias and Myart-Cruz to share research and strategy. They sold it on the united front. But initially, not all AALA members accepted the move, with some questioning why the union would strike even after receiving a new contract. <\/p>\n

“I was getting a lot of pressure from members – ‘But if we get a TA (temporary agreement), why will we strike?’ Nichols said. “But it was no longer about TA. It was about alliance. It was about being together. It was about strength and unity. … My people were not used to that.”<\/p>\n

Nichols hopes AALA members will ratify the agreement. <\/p>\n

“We’ll be done, and in May, we (Arias and Myart-Cruz) will go out and have some dinner, and, you know, adult beverages,” she said, laughing loudly.<\/p>\n

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\"Maria <\/picture>\n
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Maria Nichols, head of the LAUSD principals union, AALA\/Teamsters 2010, at her AALA office in Echo Park.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Next comes what she describes as the new coalition’s “crown of colossal lies” moment. <\/p>\n

LAUSD plans to finance the contracts with Sacramento money, which may or may not come, although it plans to cut more than 600 jobs as school enrollment continues to decline. Nichols explained that SEIU’s new contract includes additional hours for members \u2014 including custodians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers \u2014 so they can qualify for health benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey deserve it,\u201d she said, citing her respect for them because her father was a dishwasher and her mother cleaned houses. “But that impact of the health benefits is going to be directed at school budgets. OK, great. We got all these wins, but what impact is it going to have on our budgets in schools? Where’s the money going to come from?”<\/p>\n

But these were issues for another day.<\/p>\n

The conference room table was now covered with piles of the same green T-shirt that Nichols had worn at City Hall. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were going to give them out during the strike,\u201d she said while her staff was busy in several meetings. “But we’ll let them out anyway. We have a job to do.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the heads of three Los Angeles Unified School District unions stood together at City Hall to announce their new contracts after going on strike hours earlier, one of them looked out of place. Max Arias was dressed in a purple letterman’s cardigan emblazoned with “99” for Service Employees International Union Local 99. Cecily Myart-Cruz,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[2249,3796,12973,22961,1712],"class_list":["post-76375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-verse","tag-block","tag-coalition","tag-kid","tag-lausds","tag-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76379,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76375\/revisions\/76379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}