[Greater-baltimore] Protestors demand equal pay for the disabled

[Rovig, Lorraine]

>From the "SouthJersey Local News" -- online edition
Protestors demand equal pay for the disabled
Published: Wednesday, August 22, 2012
by Rita Manno
for The Central Record
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) wants people to know that some businesses pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. It is legal to do so. But it is immoral, they say.

That's why the NFB will be demonstrating at 100 sites across the country on Saturday, Aug. 25, to draw attention to why Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) should be repealed.

The NFB has chosen Goodwill Industries as an example of an organization that pays less than the minimum wage to some disabled workers.

Demonstrations in South Jersey will take place at Goodwill businesses in Pennsauken in Camden County and Woodbury in Gloucester County from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The NFB hopes to convince Goodwill to stop the practice of paying less than the minimum wage.
Anil Lewis, director of strategic communications for NFB, says the goal is two-fold - first to put public pressure on Goodwill to adopt a corporate policy that ensures all disabled workers make minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) and to educate the public about this section of the Fair Labor Standards Act that makes lower wages possible.

NFB, along with other national organizations, chose Goodwill as an example in part because the CEO Jim Gibbons is blind and makes $500,000 a year.

"You would think that he would want to give his disabled workers the same opportunities he's had," said Lewis.

"Very few, if any, disabled or non-disabled individuals acquire a competitive job skill through performing menial tasks in sheltered, segregated, subminimum-wage work environments. We must set higher expectations and provide real training and support for all people to be fully participating members of society," he said.

Lewis said that there is a bi-partisan bill in Congress with 81 co-sponsors to repeal the section of FLSA that permits lower wages. The bill would allow for a three-year phase-in period to reach full minimum wage.

Paying people with disabilities less than minimum wage has more repercussions than just financial. according to Lewis, who makes several points:
* 33 percent of students in kindergarten through grade 12 have sheltered subminimum-wage workshops as their vocational goal. We have given up on them before they have been provided a proper education and they will never reach their full potential.

* Approximately 95 percent of people employed in a subminimum-wage work environment will never transition out of that environment. They will never receive the necessary training and support to be productive employees. They will remain beneficiaries of public programs, never to become fully participating citizens.

* Approximately half of workers with disabilities who are employed under a special wage certificate (issued under the Fair Labors Act) earn less than half of the federal minimum wage.

Goodwill has 165 local, autonomous, community-based organizations in the U.S. and Canada. They employ 105,000 people, of whom 30,000 have disabilities.

In a statement released in Maryland where the NFB also demonstrated in June, Goodwill said it "supports changes in the FLSA so long as the right of people with disabilities to maintain employment of their choice is preserved.

"Across the U.S., 79 percent of people with disabilities are not working today. The Special Minimum Wage Certificate is an important resource to employ individuals with significant disabilities," who might not otherwise be employed.
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) wants people to know that some businesses pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. It is legal to do so. But it is immoral, they say.

That's why the NFB will be demonstrating at 100 sites across the country on Saturday, Aug. 25, to draw attention to why Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) should be repealed.

The NFB has chosen Goodwill Industries as an example of an organization that pays less than the minimum wage to some disabled workers.

Demonstrations in South Jersey will take place at Goodwill businesses in Pennsauken in Camden County and Woodbury in Gloucester County from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The NFB hopes to convince Goodwill to stop the practice of paying less than the minimum wage.

Anil Lewis, director of strategic communications for NFB, says the goal is two-fold - first to put public pressure on Goodwill to adopt a corporate policy that ensures all disabled workers make minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) and to educate the public about this section of the Fair Labor Standards Act that makes lower wages possible.

NFB, along with other national organizations, chose Goodwill as an example in part because the CEO Jim Gibbons is blind and makes $500,000 a year.

"You would think that he would want to give his disabled workers the same opportunities he's had," said Lewis.

"Very few, if any, disabled or non-disabled individuals acquire a competitive job skill through performing menial tasks in sheltered, segregated, subminimum-wage work environments. We must set higher expectations and provide real training and support for all people to be fully participating members of society," he said.

Lewis said that there is a bi-partisan bill in Congress with 81 co-sponsors to repeal the section of FLSA that permits lower wages. The bill would allow for a three-year phase-in period to reach full minimum wage.

Paying people with disabilities less than minimum wage has more repercussions than just financial. according to Lewis, who makes several points:

* 33 percent of students in kindergarten through grade 12 have sheltered subminimum-wage workshops as their vocational goal. We have given up on them before they have been provided a proper education and they will never reach their full potential.

* Approximately 95 percent of people employed in a subminimum-wage work environment will never transition out of that environment. They will never receive the necessary training and support to be productive employees. They will remain beneficiaries of public programs, never to become fully participating citizens.
* Approximately half of workers with disabilities who are employed under a special wage certificate (issued under the Fair Labors Act) earn less than half of the federal minimum wage.

Goodwill has 165 local, autonomous, community-based organizations in the U.S. and Canada. They employ 105,000 people, of whom 30,000 have disabilities.

In a statement released in Maryland where the NFB also demonstrated in June, Goodwill said it "supports changes in the FLSA so long as the right of people with disabilities to maintain employment of their choice is preserved.

"Across the U.S., 79 percent of people with disabilities are not working today. The Special Minimum Wage Certificate is an important resource to employ individuals with significant disabilities," who might not otherwise be employed

URL: http://www.southjerseylocalnews.com/articles/2012/08/22/region/doc5034e0fa80a53722486036.txt?viewmode=fullstory