[Ct-nfb] Goodwill Boycott

Thu Jun 21 19:56:49 UTC 2012

You have my permission to quote me and my wage to the politicians.   Shame 
on BESB for allowing this.

Joyce  Kane
_www.KraftersKorner.org_ (http://www.krafterskorner.org/) 
Blindhands at AOL.com   

In a message dated 6/21/2012 3:51:55 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu writes:

Trevor:  You are an excellent philosopher.

Rich: I agree with you and want to  make sure you know that the number of 
people who really, truly, cannot be  competitively employed is much, much 
lower than these predatory companies like  Goodwill make it out to be.  The 
people who really need jobs as a form of  entertainment or babysitting is very, 
very small.

Joyce: I am so sorry  to hear that you were ever employed at subminimum 
wages.  I'm glad you  got the heck out of Dodge.  Personal testimonies like 
yours are very  important in our fight for fair wages for all disabled workers. 
 Would  you mind if I referenced your story and attach your name to it when 
I'm  talking to politicians?  That's the lowest wage I've actually heard of 
in  Connecticut.  $3.00 was the lowest Connecticut wage I'd heard of before 
 reading your email.

Justin

Justin M. Salisbury
Class of  2012
B.A. in Mathematics
East Carolina  University
president at alumni.ecu.edu

“Never doubt that a small group  of thoughtful, committed citizens can 
change the world; indeed, it’s the only  thing that ever has.”    —MARGARET  
MEAD
________________________________________
From:  ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of 
Trevor  Attenberg [tattenberg at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 12:36  PM
To: 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Goodwill  Boycott

Shelter and entertainment for those without resources or  providing 
families are one thing. Cheap labor is another thing. It seems an  argument states 
work of any kind is a priceless privilege, and all people  should work, even 
if the pay is close to zero and cannot possibly cover any  personal 
expenses or lead to personal advancement. People should be happy that  they are 
making cheap goods and supporting the wealth of the leaders of  so-called 
charitable providers. Are not personal advancement and  self-sufficiency a couple 
of the perks to being in the labor force? The  argument in favor of 
sub-minimum wages for the disabled is the same that was  used against minimum wages 
for everyone in the first place. Namely, wages  should be based on 
productivity, and therefore those that are not producing  enough are not good enough 
for living wages; whereas the highest producers  deserve wealth and quality 
of life.
It seems to me that if employers are  not providing a means for workers to 
sustain quality of life and personal  advancement, they are doing society a 
disservice, as they instead rely on  perpetuated dependence and poverty to 
sustain their own wealth. Think of the  money so-called not-for-profits like 
Goodwill rake in. These guys claim to be  providing support to the needy; 
but at the same time, they rely on  impoverished employees to sustain their 
business model. Rather a vicious cycle  if you ask me. Often these 
organizations use government funding or charitable  giving as well, therefore the 
public at large is supporting the wealth of  those that institute sub-standard 
employment opportunities. At the same time,  these employers are spending 
money to lobby opposition to the Fair Wages bill  the Federation is supporting.
Everyone has the ability to compete, but also  everyone has the right to a 
decent life, especially if they’re not choosing to  throw away that life. 
Sub-minimum wages means poverty, and/or perpetual  reliance on government and 
families for monetary support. That doesn’t sound  like a good deal for 
anyone, save those that are profiting at the top. We’re  often taught that 
sweatshop labor is a condemnable practice employed by  under-developed, 
relatively lawless parts of the planet. So, are we going to  accept such conditions 
as righteous when it comes to the disabled? Remember  also that the NFB is 
not the only organization fighting to remove sub-minimum  wages. Many other 
disability organizations are doing the same—standing up for  their own 
livelihoods.
>From what I know, day care for seniors is a wee  different, but I don’t 
know much about it, beyond that it supposedly provides  support to seniors 
living at home without family or friends available to  provide necessary aid. 
BESB does seem to engage in a lot of wasteful or  half-hearted practices when 
it comes to getting clients gainfully employed or  prepped for such 
employment. Why was a train from Stratford to New Haven  considered unsafe? Blind 
people make that trip. We truly need to improve  prospective and approach to 
enhancing the lives of the blind and other folks  with disabilities here and 
around the country. Disabled people do want to  contribute to society; but 
they want to do so in a meaningful way; and they  don’t want to 
simultaneously contribute to poverty and  dependency.

From: ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org  [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
Behalf Of Blindhands at aol.com
Sent:  Thursday, June 21, 2012 11:06 AM
To: ct-nfb at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re:  [Ct-nfb] Goodwill Boycott

There might be a need for these places.   Such places are available for the 
elderly and it is called Daycare for  Seniorsor similar names and it is 
very pricey for folks to partake in these  places.  These so called Work Shops 
are many times serve the same  purpose.

What upsets me is the fact that BESB considers to encourage  their blind 
clients to take jobs in these places.  BESB falsely paints  these positions as 
permanent job places and pays the blind an above minimum  wage pay while 
they are in training[thru some government work program].   They spent 3 months 
working out how I could travel from Stratford  to New Haven 
independently.[after it was decided the train was not a safe  option, then Bpt transit and 
My Ride was the choice].     I  worked for 6 months part time receiving 
$11.50 per hour and after the training  period I was hired or went onto 
Americash pay rates which worked out to be  $1.20 per hour.  Since the bus 
transportation cost was $12 per day  and  I worked 5 hours a day and spent another 
average of 4 to 5 hours on  a bus or waiting for a bus, I decided after one 
week  I could not afford  to work there.

I could not believe BESB supported such job placement  for a blind person.

Joyce  Kane
www.KraftersKorner.org<http://www.krafterskorner.org/>
Blindhands at AOL.com<mailto:Blindhands at AOL.com>

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