[Home-on-the-range] Pickets Demand Equal Pay for Disabled Workers

Wed Jul 27 12:28:59 UTC 2011

Coverage from today's Wichita Eagle. Way to go!-Susan

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 

Posted on Wed, Jul. 27, 2011 

Pickets demand equal pay for disabled

BY dion lefler
The Wichita Eagle 

Randy Phifer used to work with architectural firms designing houses for a
living - but everything changed when he lost his sight five years ago.

"Diabetes took my sight," he said. "It started with driving and working in
December of '05, and I was totally blind in June of '06."

Tuesday, he was one of about 20 people chanting "Equal work, equal pay!" on
a hot sidewalk in front of a senator's Wichita office, protesting for what
he think is one of the last frontiers of the civil rights movement -
equality for people with disabilities.

The demonstrators, organized by the National Federation of the Blind, are
opposed to a provision in a bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate that
they say would make it easier to pay employees with disabilities less than
minimum wage.

"If there's a minimum wage, there should be a minimum wage for everyone,"
said Phifer, who traveled from his home in Overland Park for the
demonstration. "It shouldn't even be a question."

Not far away, Wichita State University student Emily Schlenker waved a sign
reading, "Do you support equality or exploitation?"

Schlenker, who can sense light and darkness but can't see shapes, is working
toward a master's degree that she hopes will lead to a career in
facilitating health services for underserved populations.

"I'm going to be college-educated, and I don't feel that my being blind
should make any difference as to what I'm being paid or whether or not I'm
employed," she said.

Although the demonstration took place outside the Wichita office of Sen. Pat
Roberts, R-Kansas, relations between the pickets and the senator's staff
were cordial, and organizers emphasized that Roberts was not the target.

The group was part of a national demonstration that put pickets at the door
of every member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions, which is scheduled to consider the Workforce Investment Act next
month.

Several of the demonstrators were invited into Roberts' office, where they
met with aide Mel Thompson. They told him the new legislation would solidify
and expand the opportunity for employers to pay disabled workers less, which
they say is discrimination.

The federation for the blind contends the bill would also encourage
rehabilitation case agents to take the easy route of steering clients with
disabilities toward sub-minimum-wage jobs in sheltered workshops, where
people are paid by the piece for products they produce.

The wages often come out to less than the federal and state mandated minimum
wage of $7.25 an hour.

The demonstrators are hoping to persuade Roberts to offer an amendment to
remove the language they don't like from the bill.

Roberts has not made a decision on the bill yet, but has been in contact
with groups representing disabled people on both sides, said press secretary
Andrea Candrian.

The provision at issue is supported by organizations such as Easter Seals,
Goodwill Industries and others who operate sheltered workshops, she said.

Phifer had to change careers when his blindness rendered him unable to
design houses. He now sells water filtration systems and works as a
motivational speaker.

A former baseball player, Phifer said he considers blindness another sport
to master.

"In this particular sport, you have to carry a cane - and you can't peek,"
he said. 

Reach Dion Lefler at 316-268-6527 or dlefler at wichitaeagle.com 

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