[Ct-nfb] Important Questions regarding the minium wage

Tue Mar 4 21:18:29 UTC 2014

Elizabeth,
I'd like to underline what Justin has said.  I, along with Mary 
Silverberg and one of our national legislative directors, met with 
Senator Murphy's staff in Washington at the end of January during our 
NFB Washington Seminar.  Beth Rival and others met with Senator 
Blumenthal's staff.  Neither senator has supported us on minimum wage 
equality for the disabled yet.
So we need to keep asking them to.  Ask them to sponsor a companion 
bill to H.R. 831 (a bill in the House of Representatives).  I can attest 
that Senator Murphy's staffer in Washington working on this issue is 
very familiar with the issue; he needs to know that voters in 
Connecticut want minimum wage equality for the disabled.
You also asked about Congresswoman DeLauro.  You drew my attention 
because I am a voter in her district.  She too has not yet supported us 
on this issue.  Her aide knows our position, but the congresswoman has 
been lobbied against our efforts by Goodwill.  Congresswoman DeLauro 
also needs to hear that her constituents support her co-sponsoring H.R. 
831.  Especially if you know religious leaders who would write to her 
about this issue, please help get the word out.  I've already gotten a 
deacon in my church and the executive director of a Catholic social 
justice organization to write to her.
Thank you so much, and keep up your tireless work!
Nathanael

On 04.03.2014 14:23, Justin Salisbury wrote:
> Elizabeth:
>
> What I have done is edited your questions so that I can somewhat
> understand them. If, for any of them, you think I am missing the 
> mark,
> please try asking again. Below each question, I have given you a
> response.
>
> Please keep up the good work and Federation spirit!
>
> Justin
>
> It really is simple of what I'd been asking you. I was asking you
> since you'd been doing this legislative stuff a few questions about
> what you'd gathered and learned from dealing with the subject of fair
> wages and needed some information of it.
>
> I had been asking you this:__
>
> What figures did you obtain/gain of Goodwill and others paying less
> than the minimum wage. How far under minimum wage were they paying?
>
> _I can give you encyclopedia volumes of figures, so this first
> question is very broad. I will give you some of the most important
> ones. First, there is no minimum wage for workers with disabilities,
> so these workshops can pay wages as low as one penny per hour. For a
> while, the lowest wage we’d found was seven cents per hour. Then, we
> found someone working for three cents per hour. After that, we 
> finally
> found someone working for one penny per hour. These sheltered
> workshops often call themselves “job training facilities,” but
> only 5% of the people who start working in sheltered employment ever
> go on to earn a minimum wage in their entire lives. That means 95% of
> them are trapped there. Furthermore, we spend millions of Medicaid
> dollars in every state (which are matched with federal dollars) to
> fund these sheltered workshops. They run largely on government
> contracts, and they are able to pay minimum wage, but they don’t do
> it because they don’t have to pay minimum wage. Private businessmen
> have learned that they can get rich by running workshops which are
> parasites on the government budget and exploit disabled people to
> lower costs further. Our government doesn’t fund any other program
> that only has a 5% success rate, and we need to abolish this entire
> system by passing HR 831 and a Senate companion bill._
>
> If H R 831 is passed why do we need the Senate to take action on it,
> as well?.
>
> _We need a companion bill to HR 831, hopefully with the exact same
> language (copied and pasted) from HR 831. We need it to be introduced
> by a strong leader who believes in the capacity of the disabled, 
> civil
> rights, and fiscal responsibility._
>
> How effectively supportive are the Senators being, specifically
> Blumenthal and Murphy? I ask this because I am speaking directly to
> the Senator so in fact he can speak of it in Wednesdays discussions.
>
> _We trust that Senators Blumenthal and Murphy are great men who want
> to do great things for America and Connecticut. Unfortunately, they
> have not taken any observable action to end a practice that is 
> unfair,
> discriminatory, and immoral. We need a Senate companion bill to HR
> 831, which would phase out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
> Act, which currently allows employers to pay wages as low as one 
> penny
> per hour to workers with disabilities._
>
> I hope this is now much clearer for you and hope you can get back to
> me as soon as possible so I can get this to him by mid afternoon.
>
> Thank you and take care
>
> Elizabeth
>
> In a message dated 3/4/2014 1:54:12 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu [30] writes:
>
>> Elizabeth:
>>
>> I am truly grateful that you have so much passion for our cause. I
>> wish everyone in our affiliate had this much passion.
>>
>> I continue to read and reread your messages, but I am still
>> confused. Could you try one last time to edit and resend the
>> message?
>>
>> I'm very sorry to have to ask you to do this again, but I sincerely
>> do want to understand your questions in order to answer them
>> effectively.
>>
>> Yours,
>>
>> Justin Salisbury
>>
>> Sent from the iPhone of:
>>
>> Justin M. Salisbury
>>
>> Graduate Student
>>
>> Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
>>
>> University of Wisconsin – Madison
>>
>> @_JSalisbury
>>
>> On Mar 3, 2014, at 12:54 PM, "Cookiechumper at aol.com [25]"
>> <Cookiechumper at aol.com [26]> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello
>>>
>>> Thank you Edward Justin had asked me to resend edited the email
>>> which I'd done and haven't heard back from him,but this
>>> information you've given me is very helpful and well apprecaited.
>>>
>>> Thank you again
>>>
>>> Elizabeth
>>>
>>> In a message dated 3/3/2014 10:47:28 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>>> personal.edward at gmail.com [21] writes:
>>>
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> I believe you are asking where to get material to present to
>>>> your friend. Please go to https://nfb.org/fair-wages [1]. This
>>>> page has everything on fair wages.
>>>> Hope this helps,
>>>> Edward
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Ct-nfb [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [2]] On Behalf
>>>> Of Cookiechumper at aol.com [3]
>>>> Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2014 4:06 PM
>>>> To: ct-nfb at nfbnet.org [4]
>>>> Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Important Questions regarding the minium
>>>> wage
>>>>
>>>> Hello Justin,
>>>>
>>>> I am so sorry that you ahd any issues and here is my email agai
>>>> nto you.
>>>>
>>>> I wanted to know the following informatio becasue President
>>>> Obama is coming to Hartford on Wednesday to meet with the
>>>> Govonor,senators and others t ospeak about the minium wage
>>>> increase as taht CT is doing it over 3 years. What if anything
>>>> do you know if disabled person will benefit from this action as
>>>> well. We've been battling the change and discrimination of
>>>> employers such as Goodwill, Marriott,etc and the bill that the
>>>> senate have been hearing is H R 831 has this bill fully gone int
>>>> oeffect/passed by teh senate whic his for subminium fair wages
>>>> but does it as well enact/protect from discrimination.
>>>>
>>>> Have Senators Murphy and blumenthal been
>>>> supportative,vocal,effective in our behalf for these issues .
>>>> What would you want them to know to have in hand when they are
>>>> with the Govonor on Wednesday with teh President.
>>>>
>>>> With the case of Goodwill who were not paying fairly do you
>>>> know exactly know the numbers of what they were doing being if
>>>> minium wage here is 720/40 how much under that were the ydoing
>>>> if you know.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you so much for assisting me with providing me wit hthis
>>>> information which will help us all.
>>>>
>>>> Elizabeth
>>>>
>>>> In a message dated 3/1/2014 1:48:16 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>>>> PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu [5] writes:
>>>>
>>>> Dear Elizabeth,
>>>>
>>>> I am sincerely grateful for your interest in the fight to end
>>>> subminimum wages. I have read your message a few times but am
>>>> struggling to understand what it is that you want to know.
>>>> Honestly, the abundance of typographical errors would not be
>>>> much of a problem if they did not erode the clarity of the
>>>> message, but I regret to report that they do. If you could
>>>> please edit and resend your message, I would be happy to help
>>>> answer your questions.
>>>>
>>>> I also wish to remind you and others that Edward Shaham has
>>>> taken over for me to spearhead our legislative activities. While
>>>> I am happy to offer any help that I can, Edward’s
>>>> understanding of and ability to research these issues should not
>>>> be underestimated.
>>>>
>>>> Lastly, I want to encourage you to feel comfortable reaching
>>>> out to Rose Sloan at our national office. She is the one leading
>>>> our efforts to achieve fair wages by fixing the Workforce
>>>> Investment Act and also getting the House to pass HR 831 and the
>>>> Senate to introduce and pass a companion bill to HR 831. It is
>>>> certainly good to use our resources here in Connecticut, but
>>>> helping people understand this issue is part of why we pay her
>>>> the big bucks. Her phone number is: 410-659-9314, ext. 2441. You
>>>> can also email Rose at rsloan at nfb.org [6].
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely yours,
>>>>
>>>> Justin Salisbury
>>>>
>>>> From: Ct-nfb [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [7]] On Behalf
>>>> Of Cookiechumper at aol.com [8]
>>>> Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2014 11:33 AM
>>>> To: ct-nfb at nfbnet.org [9]
>>>> Subject: [Ct-nfb] Important Questions regarding the minium wage
>>>>
>>>> Hello Justin,
>>>>
>>>> How are you. can you assist wit h some answers t o questions of
>>>> needing some information. As we all know thatthe President is
>>>> coming t omeet wit h the Govonor ,senators and others to discuss
>>>> minium wage increase as the Govonor's plan is t oraise it over 3
>>>> years t othe 10 dollars. Will disabled people benefit by/from
>>>> this. As we've been fighting against the discrimination of this
>>>> by man ysuch as Goodwill,Marriott etc. The law What was the name
>>>> of the bill agai nthat recently went before Washington on
>>>> disablity minium wages. Lost some things whe ncomputer went
>>>> down.
>>>>
>>>> Recently you'd been sending out contact info and emails related
>>>> t oSenator Murphy Compared to that of both senators Murphy and
>>>> Blumenthal how have the ybeen in regards t osupporting in
>>>> regards to this issue.
>>>>
>>>> Do you know of organizations that assist blind veterans and
>>>> disabled.
>>>>
>>>> I am asking this information becaue speaking wit hsomeone that
>>>> will be going on Wednesday so can be speaking with them in our
>>>> behalf.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you so much
>>>>
>>>> Elizabeth
>>>>
>>>> In a message dated 2/28/2014 3:11:33 P.M. Eastern Standard
>>>> Time, PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu [10] writes:
>>>>
>>>> Please note the reminder from our education team a the NFB
>>>> Jernigan Institute:
>>>>
>>>> Just a quick reminder that Monday is Read Across America Day!
>>>> This celebration of literacy always takes place on the weekday
>>>> closest to Dr. Seuss's birthday, March 2, since his writings
>>>> continue to inspire children to fall in love with reading. Once
>>>> again, we ask that you celebrate the day anyway you can to
>>>> emphasize the important role of Braille in literacy for the
>>>> blind. If your affiliate is holding a party or activity in honor
>>>> of Read Across America Day, please let us know! We'd love to get
>>>> photos or videos of your celebration. We're also asking that
>>>> everyone send us a photo or video of someone reading Braille.
>>>> We're especially eager to see people reading Braille near a
>>>> famous landmark, so we can really show that Braille is being
>>>> used all across the country! (Of course, we understand that in
>>>> many parts of the country, those landmarks are obscured by
>>>> snow!)
>>>>
>>>> If you have any questions, please contact Liz Spann at
>>>> espann at nfb.org [11] or by phone at 410-685-5653, extension
>>>> 2418.
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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> Links:
> ------
> [1] https://nfb.org/fair-wages
> [2] mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [3] mailto:Cookiechumper at aol.com
> [4] mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org
> [5] mailto:PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu
> [6] mailto:rsloan at nfb.org
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> [8] mailto:Cookiechumper at aol.com
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