A young Fredericksburg mother and union member is facing deportation back to the abuse that she fled 14 years ago. Wendy Contreras, a Washington-Baltimore News Guild member who works at CASA de Maryland, is in deportation proceedings after being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently. She fled Spain in 2002 after enduring years of abuse from her alcoholic stepfather. She's now married and has two young children born here in the United States. CASA is leading a campaign on Contreras' behalf, reaching out to organizations and institutions she has worked with for letters of support and on Sunday the Guild sent a letter of support to the Department of Homeland Security. "Wendy has been a model employee at CASA fighting for the benefits of all people," wrote Guild Executive Director Cet Parks, "Wendy is a huge contributor to our American community." Metro Council Executive Director Carlos Jimenez has also sent a letter of support and nearly 500 people have already signed a petition supporting Contreras. You'll find that petition on our website at dclabor.org
For the latest local labor calendar listings, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1877, 30 workers were killed by federal troops in Chicago, and more than 100 wounded at the "Battle of the Viaduct" during the Great Railroad Strike. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland appointed a United States Strike Committee to investigate the causes of the Pullman strike and the subsequent strike by the American Railway Union. Later that year the commission issued its report, absolving the strikers and blaming Pullman and the railroads for the conflict. In 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, directing equality of opportunity in armed forces. And on this date in 1992, the Americans With Disabilities Act took effect. It requires employers to offer reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities and bans discrimination against such workers. Today’s labor quote is by president George Herbert Walker Bush, when he signed the Americans With Disabilities Act "Many of our fellow citizens with disabilities are unemployed. They want to work, and they can work."
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