[Colorado-talk] FW: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Letters to the President about Including People with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Increase

Fri Feb 7 20:38:09 UTC 2014

________________________________
From: Nfb-legislative-directors <nfb-legislative-directors-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Sloan, Rose <rsloan at nfb.org>
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 1:04 PM
To: 'Nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org'
Subject: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Letters to the President about Including People with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Increase

Hello Legislative Directors,

FYI: Many organizations are encouraging letters to be sent to President Obama and Secretary Perez regarding President Obama’s recent executive order that will raise the minimum wage for federal government contract workers.  We would like to see people with disabilities be included in his executive order—as of right now, those who are employed under 14(c) certificate holding organizations are not directly included in the raise.

If this is a concern to you, here are the appropriate email addresses to send your letters.

Direct your letters to the White House to:

Claudia Gordon (Claudia_L_Gordon at who.eop.gov<mailto:Claudia_L_Gordon at who.eop.gov>) and  "cc":

  *   Valerie Jarrett (vjarrett at who.eop.gov<mailto:vjarrett at who.eop.gov>)
  *   Portia Wu (portia.y.wu at who.eop.gov<mailto:portia.y.wu at who.eop.gov>)

Direct your letters to the Department of Labor to:

Matthew Colangelo (Colangelo.Matthew at dol.gov<mailto:Colangelo.Matthew at dol.gov>)   and "cc"

  *   ODEP Assistant Secretary Kathy Martinez (martinez.kathy at dol.gov<mailto:martinez.kathy at dol.gov>).

I am also sending you the action alert from CPSD, one of our partners for repealing 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

I hope you find this information helpful.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Rose

URGENT Action Alert: Activate Your Grassroots to Send Letters to the White House and Department of Labor

CPSD's letter (See below) urging President Obama and Secretary Perez to include federal contractors who make less than minimum wage to be included in the executive order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour has gained momentum. Labor groups such as the AFL-CIO, SEIU and Change to Win have signed-on, as have mental health groups, the ACLU, and advocates for Americans with physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

Now it is important for self-advocates (particularly those who have made subminimum wages in the past or are in that position now), along with their families and providers who want to see a substantially decreased dependence on this model, to get letters to the White House and the Secretary of Labor.

THIS MUST BE DONE BY MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK.

Please feel free to use language from the CPSD letter and to TELL YOUR OWN PERSONAL STORY. Fear is a powerful factor for many families but the vision of a better economic future and a life of one's own for those with disabilities is stronger.

In your letters to the White House, direct your letter to:

Claudia Gordon (Claudia_L_Gordon at who.eop.gov<mailto:Claudia_L_Gordon at who.eop.gov>) and  "cc":

  *   Valerie Jarrett (vjarrett at who.eop.gov<mailto:vjarrett at who.eop.gov>)
  *   Portia Wu (portia.y.wu at who.eop.gov<mailto:portia.y.wu at who.eop.gov>)

To the Department of Labor, direct your letter to

Matthew Colangelo (Colangelo.Matthew at dol.gov<mailto:Colangelo.Matthew at dol.gov>)   and "cc"

  *   ODEP Assistant Secretary Kathy Martinez (martinez.kathy at dol.gov<mailto:martinez.kathy at dol.gov>).

Thank you and please let me know if I can help

Here is their letter:

February 6, 2014

President Barack Obama

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

The Honorable Thomas Perez

Secretary of Labor U.S. Department of Labor

200 Constitution Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20210

Dear Mr. President and Secretary Perez:

As national partners of the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination (CPSD), we were pleased to read that you will soon be issuing an executive order to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for federal contract workers. At the same time, we are profoundly concerned by recent statements suggesting that workers with disabilities employed by government contractors with 14c certificates will not be covered by the new $10.10 minimum wage.

CPSD is an advocacy network of 21 national organizations who have come together to bring about a significant modernization of the federal adult system of services and supports for persons with disabilities.

As you know, many workers with disabilities are employed by government contractors, particularly those associated with the AbilityOne Commission. Government contractors who hold 14c certificates from the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division have been permitted to pay less than minimum wage to workers with disabilities. We believe that all Americans should be afforded minimum wage protections, including those workers with disabilities.

Recent statements from the administration have suggested that employees with disabilities working for federal contractors with 14c certificates will be excluded from the new $10.10/hour minimum wage and will only benefit to a minimal degree in so far as their subminimum wage compensation is increased if the higher minimum wage required by the executive order increases the prevailing wage on which their compensation is calculated. We believe this is fundamentally unjust.

Mr. President and Secretary Perez, all employees of federal contractors should mean all employees, regardless of disability status. In the last several years, we have seen commitments from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon to phase out the use of sheltered workshops – the primary setting where disabled workers are paid less than minimum wage. Vermont ended the use of both sheltered workshops and subminimum wage employment of people with disabilities in 2003. We believe this progress shows that it is both economically sound and morally just to ensure that people with disabilities have access to the same wage protections as those without. While a broader end to subminimum wage and Section 14c may require an act of Congress, we believe that the Administration has the authority to end the use of subminimum wage for employees of federal contractors immediately, through the use of the same executive order establishing the new $10.10/hour requirement.

Thank you again for your leadership and for serious consideration of our comments. We stand ready to work with you to align federal policies and financing to achieve the valued goal of integrated, competitive employment for all citizens with disabilities. It is our sincere hope that you do not leave the disability community behind in your forthcoming executive order.

Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union
AFL-CIO
Association of Persons in Supported Employment
Autistic Self-Advocacy Network
Autism Society
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Change to Win
Disability Power & Pride
Demos
Institute for Community Inclusion
Japanese American Citizens League
National Association of the Deaf
National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services
National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery
National Council on Independent Living
National Down Syndrome Congress
National Fragile X Foundation
National Disability Institute
National Disability Rights Network
National Organization on Disability
National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities
Not Dead Yet
Physician Parent Caregivers
Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities
Service Employees International Union
Sibling Leadership Network
TASH
United Spinal Association

Rose Sloan
Government Affairs Specialist

“Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities”
http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages

National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
rsloan at nfb.org
(410)-659-9314 ext 2441

The National Federation of the Blind needs your support to ensure blind children get an equal education; to connect blind veterans with the training and services they need; and to help seniors who are losing vision continue to live independent and fulfilling lives. To make a donation, please go to www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org>.

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