[il-talk] Her it is

Fri Aug 23 02:56:36 UTC 2013

I passed this around to a few people.

RH

On 8/22/2013 6:28 PM, Edwin wrote:
> September 30, 2011
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> Dr. Marc Mauer
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> President
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> National Federation of the Blind
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> 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
> Baltimore, Maryland   21230
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> Open Letter to All Community Service Providers Holding a Special Wage
> Certificate:
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> The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired
> supports phasing out the use of the Special "Subminimum" Wage provision
> found in Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Society has
> underestimated the vocational capacity of people with disabilities for far
> too long.  We must shift the paradigm, from one that assumes that people
> with disabilities cannot perform job tasks competitively, to one that
> recognizes that, with the proper training, opportunity, and support, even
> people with the most significant disabilities can be competitively employed,
> contributing to an employer's profits and adding value to the American
> economy.  Join with us to end the misguided discrimination against workers
> with disabilities.
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> As a service provider, the Chicago Lighthouse has worked for the past 105
> years to provide quality rehabilitation services to enhance the quality of
> life of our clients.  Last year we served approximately 65,000 blind and
> visually impaired children and adults through our 28 programs and services.
> One of our core goals is to ensure that each individual receives the proper
> training and opportunity to be competitively employed.  Through the
> employment of innovative rehabilitation strategies and adaptive technology,
> we empower blind and visually impaired individuals with the skills to
> obtain, maintain, and remain in gainful employment.  We recognize that work
> not only provides a source of income, but also promotes independence and
> self-worth, and affords individuals the opportunity to exercise
> self-determination.
>
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> We strive to serve as a role model for other companies in how they should
> treat their employees with disabilities.  We are committed to hiring people
> with disabilities throughout our organization, not just in our industries
> program for workers with disabilities.  We offer all of our full-time
> employees (with and without disabilities) a 25 percent benefits package,
> which includes health insurance, pension, vacation, etc.  For clients who
> find that jobs at our facility are not a good fit for them, we offer a
> variety of job placement services that assist individuals with obtaining
> service-related, administrative, and executive positions throughout the
> community that match their skills and abilities.
>
>   
>
> The federal and state funding we receive helps us to provide core services
> to our clients, but we engage in fundraising and development efforts to
> leverage our public funding so that we can maintain a quality facility with
> quality services that value each employee and customer.  We refuse to depend
> on the employment of people with disabilities at subminimum wages to
> maintain our profitability.
>
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> Although we have maintained a special wage certificate for many years, it
> has been a routine administrative process rather than a statement of
> practice.  For over 30 years, The Chicago Lighthouse has guaranteed all of
> its employees at least the U. S. minimum wage, and for approximately 25
> years, The Chicago Lighthouse has guaranteed all of its employee's wages
> greater than the U. S. minimum wage. It is our intention to inform the
> Department of Labor that we have no further need of our current certificate
> to pay subminimum wages, and we will no longer seek renewal of the
> certificate.  We firmly believe in fairly compensating our employees for
> their hard work, and we do not have, and will never have, any employee
> making less than the minimum wage.  We hope that other community
> rehabilitation service facilities will adopt a similar business model that
> values their employees by paying them the federal minimum wage or higher.
>
>   
>
> We fully support the Resolution Regarding Fair Wages for People with
> Disabilities (Resolution 2011-09) passed at this year's convention of the
> National Federation of the Blind, and we urge Congress to pass legislation
> to phase out Section 14(c) of the FLSA.  We intend to surrender immediately
> our current 14(c) certificate, and we encourage other community service
> providers to do the same.
>
>   
>
> Sincerely,
>
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> C:\Users\jstieghorst\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet
> Files\Content.Outlook\5UXOCMW2\Janet-Signature-Phd.png
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> Janet Szlyk, PhD
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> President/Executive Director
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-- 
Robert A. Hansen Peer Mentor Council Of Clubs Representative Co-Program 
Director WZRD 88.3 FM www.wzrdchicago.org Northeastern Illinois 
University roberthansen33 at yahoo.com (NFB related) Phone (872)226-5226 
Studying NonTraditional Degree Program Bachelor of Arts 
Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on Sociology Northeastern Illinois 
University www.neiu.edu