[Home-on-the-range] FW: [Nfbnet-members-list] More on Goodwill Protests

[Stanzel, Susan - FSA, Kansas City, MO]

This just came out.

Susie

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 7:58 AM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] More on Goodwill Protests


>
>Dear fellow Federationists:
>As we have been preparing for our informational protests on Saturday,
>and as Goodwill affiliates have become aware of the protests, many of
>us have received communications from Goodwill, either directly or
>indirectly, attempting to counter our arguments about subminimum wage.
>We thought we would make you aware of these talking points and suggest
>some responses. Goodwill's messages roughly fall into three broad
>categories:
>
>1.       Goodwill's spokesmen have said that subminimum wage is one
>of many tools that can create employment opportunities for people with
>disabilities. The problem with this argument is that subminimum wage is
>not an effective tool, as evidenced by the fact that almost no one
>successfully transitions from sheltered subminimum wage employment to
>competitive employment, nor are the skills obtained in subminimum wage
>employment usually transferrable to competitive work. No craftsman
>continues to use a broken tool to try to build something; the tool is
>instead removed from the toolbox and replaced with one that works.
>Goodwill cannot and does not build any opportunities with the broken
>tool of subminimum wage employment.
>2.       Some Goodwill affiliates have said that the NFB is simply
>lying, because that particular Goodwill affiliate does not pay workers
>subminimum wages. According to a statement put out by Goodwill's
>national office, 64 of its 165 affiliates pay subminimum wages to
>workers with disabilities. The NFB applauds those affiliates that do
>not pay subminimum wages, but this protest is not primarily about any
>individual Goodwill affiliate or whether it does or does not pay
>subminimum wages. The protests seek to bring attention to Goodwill's
>national policy of supporting the exemption contained in Section 14(c)
>of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Goodwill Industries International,
>Inc. clearly supports the payment of subminimum wages, and even
>statements from the affiliates that are not paying subminimum wages
>have generally supported Section 14(c).
>Until Goodwill, at the national level, is willing to change its
>policies and advocate for the repeal of Section 14(c), it is and will
>remain a focus of our advocacy.
>
>3.       Some Goodwill affiliates have argued that subminimum wage
>payment is a national issue about which Goodwill's national office and
>the NFB's national office are in contact. This is simply not true. The
>president and CEO of Goodwill had a single meeting with Dr. Maurer, and
>that meeting only occurred after media attention was brought to the
>payment of subminimum wages by Goodwill. At that meeting, the Goodwill
>official made it clear that Goodwill's policies would not change, and
>we have had no communication with Goodwill's national office since that
>meeting occurred.
>The payment of subminimum wages is an unfair, discriminatory, and
>immoral practice, and that fact cannot be obscured by any amount of
>smooth-sounding rhetoric or deliberate obfuscation. As we march on
>Saturday, and as we talk with our friends, family, and the media about
>this subject, let us continue to focus on that fundamental fact.
>
>Sincerely:
>Chris Danielsen
>Director of Public Relations
>National Federation of the Blind
>


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