That April 10 nearly six years ago was one of Jaime Contreras’s defining moments.
People arrived on the Mall by the tens of thousands, waving American flags and chanting in Spanish, “Yes, we can!”
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Contreras, 37, still vividly remembers the vigor of more than a quarter of a million people demanding immigration reform.
“I was proud. . . . The thing that made me the most nervous was [thinking], ‘Where do we go from here?’ ” Contreras said.
Contreras, who chairs the Capital Area District of 32BJ, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, has become one of Washington’s most active advocates for immigrant rights. At congressional and local government hearings, he has lobbied for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.
He is leading efforts this year in Maryland to win approval, in a referendum, of the state’s version of a Dream Act, which would grant in-state college tuition discounts to undocumented immigrants.
“He is sort of what the union leader of today needs to be,” said Eliseo Medina, SEIU’s international secretary-treasurer. “He sees his mission as being broader than just simply the workplace but really being able to help deal with the issues in the broader society where our members live — not just where they work.”
Contreras was 17, in high school and working nights as a cleaner at 1800 M Street when he started his career as a unionist in 1992.
He was one of a handful of part-time workers who spoke English and Spanish and quickly became the go-to person when someone needed help communicating with supervisors or co-workers. The workforce at the time was half Hispanic and half black, he said. They were paid about 10 cents above the $4.75 minimum wage and had no benefits, Contreras said.
“Somebody would call out sick, and the next day they wouldn’t have a job,” he said. “But what probably got me more upset at that age was when people were being . . . mistreated for no reason. They weren’t treated with dignity or respect.”
Contreras was energetic, unafraid of losing his job and “really interested in making things right,” said Valarie Long, a union organizer at the time and now executive vice president of SEIU.
After six months of training and organizing, Contreras led his co-workers on a two-day strike, which led to an agreement for salary increases, vacation time and sick days. He was soon working part time as a union organizer while attending Bell Multicultural High School in the District.
After high school, Contreras served three years in the Navy, then returned to the union to become the youngest Latino, at age 27, to hold a full-time elected position in an SEIU local. He also is the first Latino president of SEIU Maryland and DC State Council, a political arm of SEIU.
The local union membership has grown from about 7,000 in 2006 when Contreras was elected district chairman to more than 16,000. The majority are Hispanic immigrants.
“Their families are suffering because of the current broken immigration system, and that’s why this is personal for me,” said Contreras, who illegally immigrated to the United States from his native El Salvador in 1988.
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