[il-talk] Reminder! Comments regarding the Executive Order are needed by Sunday!

Sat Jul 26 20:07:34 UTC 2014

Yes, I sent in my comments by both postal mail and to rose.

Kelly

On 7/26/14, Gregory Chang Patti via il-talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Here is what I wrote.  Has anyone else sent in their comments?
>
>
> 							Patti S. Gregory-Chang Esq.
> 							6919 W. Berwyn Ave.
> 							Chicago, IL 60656
> 							(773) 307-6440
>
> Ms. Mary Ziegler
> Director of the Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation
> U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
> 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room S-3510
> Washington, DC 20210
>
> Re:  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Establishing a Minimum Wage for
> Contractors RIN: 1235-AA10
>
>
> Dear Ms. Ziegler:
>
> I write in two capacities, as an individual with a disability and as the
> President of the largest organization of the blind in Illinois, the National
> Federation of the Blind of Illinois.  I have personally spoken with blind
> people who were paid less than the minimum wage despite their having been
> awarded productivity plaques from the same employer who paid minimum wage to
> less productive sighted employees.  This is a travesty which must stop.
>
> I fully support the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) of the executive
> order “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors.” I sincerely thank the
> president and the Department of Labor for formulating this executive order
> as I feel that it is an important first step toward ensuring equality in the
> workplace for American workers with disabilities.
>
> I applaud the Department of Labor for including people with disabilities
> whose wages are calculated under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
> Act in the definition of “worker.” People with disabilities are indeed
> workers, and with the proper training and support can be just as productive
> as non-disabled peers. I believe that the biggest obstacle that people with
> disabilities face to equal employment is low expectations. When we are held
> to the same standards as our non-disabled peers we will rise to the occasion
> and perform to the level that is expected of us. We may need accommodations
> to do this, but laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and
> Rehabilitation Act legally grant us these reasonable accommodations.
>
> Executive Order 13658 states that any new or renewed federal contract that
> provides services starting on or after January 1, 2015 will be required to
> pay all employees at least $10.10 an hour. I hope that the contracts placed
> on the AbilityOne Procurement List (PL) will not be exempted from this wage
> floor requirement. Although these contracts, once placed on the PL, are
> exempted from external competition, they are subject to renewal and
> renegotiation as any other contract. Most importantly, these contracts
> employ workers with disabilities that (if the contracts are exempted) would
> not benefit from the increase wage provided through the executive order as
> intended.
>
> I believe that excluding people with disabilities from the protection of the
> minimum wage is discriminatory, and the NPRM of the executive order
> “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors” takes an important first step
> in eliminating the practice of paying people with disabilities subminimum
> wages. I hope that the Department of Labor and the president will continue
> to work with stakeholders to ensure that Americans with disabilities are
> guaranteed the protections in the workplace that we deserve. Thank you for
> considering my feedback.
>
> Sincerely,
> Patti S. Gregory-Chang Esq.
> _______________
>
>
>
>
> Live the Life You Want.
>
> Patti Gregory Chang
> National Federation of the Blind of Illinois, President
> NFB Scholarship Committee Chair
> pattischang at gmail.com
> www.nfbofillinois.org
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "Sloan, Rose via Nfb-legislative-directors"
> <nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Reminder! Comments regarding the
> Executive Order are needed by Sunday!
> Date: July 25, 2014 9:04:31 AM CDT
> To: "'Nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org'"
> <Nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: "Sloan, Rose" <rsloan at nfb.org>, NFB Legislative Directors List
> <nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org>
>
> Dear Federation Family,
>
> This is a friendly reminder that comments regarding the notice of proposed
> rulemaking are due to me (Rsloan at nfb.org) this Sunday at 8 PM.  Please see
> below for more information.  This is an easy way to have our voices heard
> and ensure that AbilityOne contracts will be required to obey the Executive
> Order.
>
> When you send a letter, please include your full mailing address.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Yours in the fight for fair wages,
>
> Rose
>
> Rose Sloan
> Government Affairs Specialist
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>
> “Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities”
> http://www.nfb.org/fairwages
>
> From: Nfb-legislative-directors
> [mailto:nfb-legislative-directors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sloan,
> Rose via Nfb-legislative-directors
> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2014 8:56 AM
> To: 'Nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org'
> Subject: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Comments Needed to Ensure that
> Executive Order Doesn’t Exempt 14c Entities from Paying New Minimum Wage
>
> Fellow Federationists:
>
> As you know, President Obama has issued an executive order that raises the
> minimum wage for federally contracted service providers—including those
> employees who are being paid under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
> Act. The Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), the interpretation of this
> executive order, has been released by the Department of Labor (DOL). They
> will be accepting comments until July 28.
>
> It is important that we express our support for the Executive Order. We’ve
> heard that some people might urge DOL to exempt some organizations that use
> 14(c) certificates, and we want to outnumber that kind of feedback.
>
> I encourage each of you to send me comments that you would like submitted.
> For your convenience, I have provided a sample letter. Please feel free to
> use some of this language in the comments you wish to be sent, specifically
> the part about AbilityOne’s Procurement List (PL) contracts.
>
> ###
>
>
> Ms. Mary Ziegler
> Director of the Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation
> U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
> 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room S-3510
> Washington, DC 20210
>
> Re:  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Establishing a Minimum Wage for
> Contractors RIN: 1235-AA10
>
>
> Dear Ms. Ziegler:
>
> I fully support the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) of the executive
> order “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors.” I sincerely thank the
> president and the Department of Labor for formulating this executive order
> as I feel that it is an important first step toward ensuring equality in the
> workplace for American workers with disabilities.
>
> I applaud the Department of Labor for including people with disabilities
> whose wages are calculated under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
> Act in the definition of “worker.” People with disabilities are indeed
> workers, and with the proper training and support can be just as productive
> as non-disabled peers. I believe that the biggest obstacle that people with
> disabilities face to equal employment is low expectations. When we are held
> to the same standards as our non-disabled peers we will rise to the occasion
> and perform to the level that is expected of us. We may need accommodations
> to do this, but laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and
> Rehabilitation Act legally grant us these reasonable accommodations.
>
> Executive Order 13658 states that any new or renewed federal contract that
> provides services starting on or after January 1, 2015 will be required to
> pay all employees at least $10.10 an hour. I hope that the contracts placed
> on the AbilityOne Procurement List (PL) will not be exempted from this wage
> floor requirement. Although these contracts, once placed on the PL, are
> exempted from external competition, they are subject to renewal and
> renegotiation as any other contract. Most importantly, these contracts
> employ workers with disabilities that (if the contracts are exempted) would
> not benefit from the increase wage provided through the executive order as
> intended.
>
> I believe that excluding people with disabilities from the protection of the
> minimum wage is discriminatory, and the NPRM of the executive order
> “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors” takes an important first step
> in eliminating the practice of paying people with disabilities subminimum
> wages. I hope that the Department of Labor and the president will continue
> to work with stakeholders to ensure that Americans with disabilities are
> guaranteed the protections in the workplace that we deserve. Thank you for
> considering my feedback.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> _______________
>
> ###
>
> Please send your comments to me at rsloan at nfb.org no later than 8 PM on
> Sunday, July 27th. Thanks for all that you do, and I look forward to reading
> your comments!
>
> Yours in the fight for fair wages,
>
> Rose
>
>
> Rose Sloan
> Government Affairs Specialist
>
> National Federation of the Blind
> 200 East Wells Street
> Baltimore, MD 21230
> Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2441
> Email: rsloan at nfb.org
>
> “Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities”
> http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages
>
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
> To make a donation to the National Federation of the Blind Imagination Fund,
> please visitwww.nfb.org/ImaginingOurFuture.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-legislative-directors mailing list
> Nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-legislative-directors_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Nfb-legislative-directors:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-legislative-directors_nfbnet.org/pattischang%40gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> il-talk mailing list
> il-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/il-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> il-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/il-talk_nfbnet.org/kellytalk%40gmail.com
>