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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<BR>CONTACT:<BR>Local:
<BR>Debbie Brown, President<BR>Sligo Creek Chapter<BR>National Federation of the
Blind of Maryland<BR>301-881-1892<BR>301-538-4426 (cell)<BR><A
href="mailto:63characters@comcast.net">63characters@comcast.net</A><BR>National:<BR>Chris
Danielsen<BR>Director of Public Relations<BR>National Federation of the
Blind<BR>(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<BR>(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<BR><A
href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</A><BR>Americans with
Disabilities to Protest Goodwill’s Subminimum Wages<BR>Protesters to Urge
Boycott, Demand Fair Wages<BR>On Saturday, August 25, members of the National
Federation of the Blind will be conducting an informational demonstration at the
Goodwill Store in Gaithersburg, 619 S. Frederick Avenue, Route 355, from
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The purpose of the demonstration is to inform the
public of the legal practice of paying subminimum wages to workers with
disabilities.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>"It happened to me; it can happen to any of us,"
said Tom Bickford, a blind <BR>senior from Montgomery County with a Master's
Degree who has worked several <BR>professional jobs throughout his life.
In this instance, however, he is <BR>referring to his stint in a potato chip
factory in 1961 to tide him over a <BR>period of unemployment, an experience all
too common in the lives of blind <BR>people and those with other
disabilities. Unlike his sighted coworkers, he <BR>was paid below the
minimum wage, a practice legal under Section 14(c) of the <BR>Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The National Federation of the Blind is holding
demonstrations at Goodwill <BR>stores nationwide because they receive special
wage certificates from the <BR>U.S. Department of Labor that allow them to
pay less than the minimum wage to <BR>workers with disabilities. Although
not all Goodwill facilities pay workers <BR>less than the minimum wage, they are
all allowed to do so, and the public does <BR>not know about this
practice.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Baltimore, Maryland (August 20, 2012):<BR>The
National Federation of the Blind<BR> (NFB), one of the oldest and largest
organizations of Americans with disabilities,<BR>announced today that it, along
with other organizations of people with disabilities,<BR>will conduct over
eighty coordinated nationwide protests in front of thrift stores<BR>operated by
Goodwill Industries International, Inc., the nonprofit manufacturer
and<BR>retailer. The informational protests will raise awareness of
Goodwill’s practice<BR>of paying<BR>subminimum wages<BR> to many of its
workers with disabilities. Freedom of information requests filed<BR>by the
NFB confirmed that Goodwill Industries employees with disabilities have
been<BR>paid as low as $0.22 an hour. The NFB and<BR>nearly fifty other
organizations<BR> of people with disabilities support legislation,<BR>the
Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act<BR> (H.R. 3086), which would
phase out and then repeal the nearly seventy-five-year-old<BR>provision of the
Fair Labor Standards Act that permits<BR>special certificate holders<BR> to
pay subminimum wages to workers with disabilities. The protests will take
place<BR>on Saturday, August 25, generally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time at
Goodwill thrift<BR>store locations throughout the United States.<BR>Dr. Marc
Maurer, President of the<BR>National Federation of the Blind<BR>, said:
“Goodwill Industries is one of the most well-known charitable
organizations<BR>in the United States, but most members of the general public
are unaware that Goodwill<BR>exploits people with disabilities. We are
conducting informational protests to make<BR>the public aware of this practice
that, although sadly still legal, is unfair, discriminatory,<BR>and
immoral. Given its lucrative retail operations and the fact that it can
lavish<BR>half-a-million dollars on the salary of its president and chief
executive officer,<BR>Goodwill is certainly in a position to stop exploiting its
workers with disabilities.<BR>We are calling upon all Americans to refuse to do
business with Goodwill Industries,<BR>to refuse to make donations to the
subminimum-wage exploiter, and to refuse to shop<BR>in its retail stores until
it exercises true leadership and sound moral judgment<BR>by fairly compensating
all of its workers with disabilities.”<BR>For more information about the
protests, contact Anil Lewis, director of Strategic<BR>Communications at the
National Federation of the Blind, by phone at (410) 659-9314,<BR>extension 2374,
or by e-mail at<BR><A
href="mailto:alewis@nfb.org">alewis@nfb.org</A><BR>. For more
background regarding this critically important issue, please visit<BR><A
href="http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages">www.nfb.org/fair-wages</A><BR>.<BR>###<BR>About
the National Federation of the Blind<BR>With more than 50,000 members, the
National Federation of the Blind is the largest<BR>and most influential
membership organization of blind people in the United States.<BR>The NFB
improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research,
technology,<BR>and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.
It is the leading force<BR>in the blindness field today and the voice of the
nation's blind. In January 2004<BR>the NFB opened the National Federation
of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first<BR>research and training center in
the United States for the blind led by the blind.<BR>__________ Information from
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