[Ct-nfb] Goodwill thoughts

Fri Jun 22 17:09:48 UTC 2012

Chris,

You've raised a good political question:

...why is the NFB taking on this battle? For 70 years, we have fought 
exclusively for blind people. Yes, it could be argued that we are still 
fighting for blind people, but while I don't have the statistics (Justin?), 
I'll go out on a limb and venture that 80% or more of the population 
receiving sub-minimum wages are not blind, but live, like Jonathan, with 
other disabilities.
About 7 years ago there was a big discussion in the NFB of CT about whether 
or not to join the Connecticut Disabilities Coalition. Since we are well 
known and were fairly active legislatively at that time, we were urged to 
join. Yet, some of our long time members, in consulting with national, 
warned against this. The feeling was that we don't want to dilute our 
message, or expend our money and resources fighting for other disabilities 
when our focus is on blindness and our issues. We, as an organization, voted 
not to join the coalition officially, but to attend meetings occasionally so 
we'd know what was going on.

I'll share my thoughts about this with you.  The NFB does not join 
coalitions; we don't get together with other organizations of the disabled, 
minorities, the poor, transit users, etc. and have a representative or two 
(which is usually how such things play out) and come up with an agenda, 
platform, program, etc.  We imagine our own policies, programs, and 
resolutions.

But when our policies, programs, and resolutions coincide with those of 
other organizations, we will join a coalition for that specific purpose. 
National did this seven years ago in the large attempt to stop the drastic 
downsizing and political attack on the federal Rehabilitation Services 
Administration.  In California, our affiliate joined with other 
organizations of and for the blind to pass, sign, and implement legislation 
to create a separate rehabilitation agency for the blind--and when the work 
was done the coalition was done, too, though what positive relationships 
that developed were often maintained.  This fight with other organizations 
of and for persons with other disabilities against workshops paying less 
than the minimum wage is exactly the same.

And I've observed that our leaders who have worked most closely with this 
have had their own expectations of persons with disabilities much closer to 
your friend Jonathan's raised.  They've realized that more disabled persons 
than they themselves thought could be competitively employed.

Nathanael

-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris Kuell
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 5:45 PM
To: NFB of Connecticut Mailing List
Subject: [Ct-nfb] Goodwill thoughts

Hello, Listers.

While I agree completely with those who advocate against sub-minimum wages
for anyone, no matter how disabled or otherwise impaired they might be, I
think Suzanne brings up a interesting point.

I know a guy, Jack, who has a severely mentally retarded son, Jonathon. He's
22 years old, but has the mind of a 3 year old. He's loving and kind, but
can't speak coherently, has seizures, and tends to meander and wander if not
watched carefully. One time when we were visiting Jack and his family,
Jonathon caught me completely off guard by sitting in my lap.

Jonathan works for Goodwill, part time, at a sub-minimum wage. He has no
concept of money, and his parents don't care because Jonathan loves going to
work and being around other people. They give him very mundane tasks, and he
has a job coach with him at all times. He does very little to make Goodwill
more profitable, but he feels good about going out and doing something.
Somehow, he feels self-worth and importance by doing his job.

Now, like all of you, I'm appalled at supposedly not-for-profit industries
which pay their executive directors 6 figure salaries, only able-bodied
sighted people have jobs with any real management responsibilities, and pay
disabled workers a sub-minimum wage. My blood boils just thinking about it.
In an ideal world, we, and others, would boycott and bring attention to the
injustice, and such industries would be restructured so that the executive
director and managers get reasonable salaries, all workers receive at least
minimum wages, and there exists opportunity for further training and career
advancement.

Unfortunately, our world is far from ideal. The above scenario will never
happen. What will happen is that people like Jonathon will lose his job,
that part-time joy in his life. His job coach will lose her job as well.
Goodwill will carry on, getting government funding and soliciting donations,
but without severely disabled workers. If enough public shame is heaped on
them, they'll close up shop and put even more disable workers out of work.
Perhaps I'm being overly cynical, but in my years of observing humans on
this planet, I've never seen people voluntarily give up power or money for
the good of others. Yes, Bill Gates is very generous, but he's in a
different class (wealthy beyond imagination and retired), and I mean people
who are actively employed.

Since Justin seemed to be urging on discussion and conversation, I'll bring
up another thought I've been having. That being--why is the NFB taking on
this battle? For 70 years, we have fought exclusively for blind people. Yes,
it could be argued that we are still fighting for blind people, but while I
don't have the statistics (Justin?), I'll go out on a limb and venture that
80% or more of the population receiving sub-minimum wages are not blind, but
live, like Jonathan, with other disabilities.
About 7 years ago there was a big discussion in the NFB of CT about whether
or not to join the Connecticut Disabilities Coalition. Since we are well
known and were fairly active legislatively at that time, we were urged to
join. Yet, some of our long time members, in consulting with national,
warned against this. The feeling was that we don't want to dilute our
message, or expend our money and resources fighting for other disabilities
when our focus is on blindness and our issues. We, as an organization, voted
not to join the coalition officially, but to attend meetings occasionally so
we'd know what was going on.

So why the change? Is it because an army  seems obsolete if there's not a
war? Because soldiers become complacent if not engaged in a battle? After
all, if there's no war, people tend to cut spending on defense. Cynical, I
know, but I wonder...

My final thought has to do with the blind division of BRS, a.k.a. BESB. The
9 VR counselors there have about 800 active clients. They try to help, but
they have pressure to close cases, and don't always have the high
expectations held by many on this list. As free citizens, we always have a
choice about whether or not to take a job. It's been my observation over
many years that blind people rely far too heavily on BESB to 'get them a
job'. My recommendation to every blind person is to get what you can from
BESB, get your philosophy and additional information/training from other
capable, competent blind people, and find your own job. Call BESB when you
need assurances that they will help with technology, or to get some O and M
instruction if you are in a new area and aren't comfortable, but never
forget who is behind the wheel. If you aren't driving, you probably won't
like where the vehicle ends up.

Okay, enough with the metaphors and analogies. Let the cursing begin!

chris

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