[il-talk] Fwd: [Nfbnet-master-list] Legislative Alert Subminimumwage

Fri Jun 24 15:33:49 UTC 2011

Denise,
  Thanks for forwarding this legislative alert.  I just called and left 
voice mail for Senator Kirk and hope you will all do the same.

    Cathy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Denise Avant" <dravant at ameritech.net>
To: "NFB of Illinois Mailing List" <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 8:30 PM
Subject: [il-talk] Fwd: [Nfbnet-master-list] Legislative Alert 
Subminimumwage

>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org> (by way of David Andrews 
>> <dandrews at visi.com>)
>> Date: June 23, 2011 7:06:32 PM CDT
>> To: nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [Nfbnet-master-list] Legislative Alert Subminimum wage
>>
>> Dear Fellow Federationists:
>>
>> I am writing to inform you that a principle tenet of our organization is 
>> being threatened.  We are actively developing legislation that will work 
>> toward the repeal of Regulation 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
>> (FLSA).  Meanwhile, the proposed language in Title V of the Workforce 
>> Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization, specifically Section 511 of the 
>> Rehabilitation Act, threatens to send us backward in our struggle for 
>> full participation and competitive employment at competitive wages.
>>
>> Most of us are aware that in 1938, when every other employee in America 
>> was being guaranteed the workforce protection of a federal minimum wage 
>> through the passage of the FLSA, Section 14(c) of this act denied the 
>> blind and other workers with disabilities this same protection by 
>> allowing for the payment of subminimum wages.  Since our founding in 
>> 1940, the National Federation of the Blind has fought against the 
>> erroneous misconception that blind people cannot be productive employees, 
>> and we have made significant strides toward a correct understanding of 
>> the true capacity of the blind.  Contrarily, the proposed language found 
>> in Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act is a tacit endorsement of 
>> Section 14(c) of the FLSA and its antiquated contention that people with 
>> disabilities cannot be competitively employed.
>>
>> If passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, language 
>> in Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act will create a link between the 
>> Rehabilitation Act and Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act that 
>> has never before existed.  This will create legislation with a conflict 
>> between the philosophy of capacity for competitive employment set by the 
>> Rehabilitation Act, and the philosophy of incapacity toward subminimum 
>> wages set by Section 14(c) of the FLSA, setting the stage for more 
>> workers with disabilities to be inappropriately steered toward sheltered 
>> employment and a life of low expectations rewarded with subminimum wages.
>>
>> The following list contains the names of members of the Senate HELP 
>> committee.  If your Senator is a member of the committee, please call 
>> his/her office to respectfully express your adamant objection to linking 
>> subminimum wage to the Rehabilitation Act, and to insist that Section 511 
>> of the Rehabilitation Act be removed from the bill.  If your Senator is 
>> not a member of the HELP committee, call the committee chair (Senator Tom 
>> Harkin) and the ranking member (Senator Michael Enzi) to register your 
>> objection.
>>
>> Please share this information with friends and family and encourage them 
>> to assist us with this effort.  Please call or e-mail me with any 
>> questions, and to keep me posted on your progress.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Anil Lewis
>> Director of Strategic Communications
>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>> Telephone:  (410) 659-9314, extension 2374
>> E-mail: alewis at nfb.org
>>
>> Senator
>> State
>> Telephone
>> Senator Lamar Alexander
>> Tennessee
>> (202) 224-4944
>> Senator Michael F. Bennet
>> Colorado
>> (202) 224-5852
>> Senator Jeff Bingaman
>> New Mexico
>> (202) 224-5521
>> Senator Richard Blumenthal
>> Connecticut
>> (202) 224-2823
>> Senator Richard Burr
>> North Carolina
>> (202) 224-3154
>> Senator Robert Casey, Jr.
>> Pennsylvania
>> (202) 224-6324
>> Senator Mike Enzi
>> Wyoming
>> (202) 224-3424
>> Senator Al Franken
>> Minnesota
>> (202) 224-5641
>> Senator Kay R. Hagan
>> North Carolina
>> (202) 224-6342
>> Senator Tom Harkin
>> Iowa
>> (202) 224-3254
>> Senator Orrin G. Hatch
>> Utah
>> (202) 224-5251
>> Senator Johnny Isakson
>> Georgia
>> (202) 224-3643
>> Senator Mark Steven Kirk
>> Illinois
>> (202) 224-2854
>> Senator John McCain
>> Arizona
>> (202) 224-2235
>> Senator Jeff Merkley
>> Oregon
>> (202) 224-3753
>> Senator Barbara A. Mikulski
>> Maryland
>> (202) 224-4654
>> Senator Lisa Murkowski
>> Alaska
>> (202) 224-6665
>> Senator Patty Murray
>> Washington
>> (202) 224-2621
>> Senator Rand Paul
>> Kentucky
>> (202) 224-4343
>> Senator Pat Roberts
>> Kansas
>> (202) 224-4774
>> Senator Bernard Sanders
>> Vermont
>> (202) 224-5141
>> Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
>> Rhode Island
>> (202) 224-2921
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfbnet-master-list mailing list
>> Nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org
>
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