[Mn-abs] Fwd: [NFBMN-News] Subminimum Wage Protest Bus Information

Fri Jul 22 20:03:28 UTC 2011

Hi all,
A tremendous opportunity to get involved.  It would also send a strong
message if students were their.

Jordan Richardson
mnabs president

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
Date: 22 July 2011 12:26
Subject: [NFBMN-News] Subminimum Wage Protest Bus Information
To: NFB of Minnesota News List <nfbmn-news at googlegroups.com>

Members,

As mentioned previously, we will be holding an informational picket of
Senator Al Franken's local office in an attempt to gain his support for
removing
subminimum wage language from the Workforce Investment Act.  We will be
gathering in front of his office at 60 East Plato Blvd. on Tuesday July 26
from
10:00 AM to noon.

If you plan on attending, please be sure to contact Judy Sanders at
612-375-1625, or send her an e-mail at

jsanders.nfb at comcast.net

so we can contact you if there are any changes and to give us an idea of the
size of our protest.

If you are planning to attend using public transportation, the following may
be of help.  From Minneapolis, catch a 94C bus at Sixth and Nicollet at 8:51
AM.
Any 94 will work, but the 8:51 bus is a 94C.  Of course, this bus makes
other stops as well.  Get off in downtown St. Paul at Sixth and Robert,
which you
reach around 9:21.  For those who may be familiar with the 94 bus line,
please note that it travels through downtown on Robert Street now rather
than Cedar
because of light rail construction.  You can wait right where the 94 stops
at Sixth and Robert and catch a 68 bus at 9:30.  This bus will travel south
across
the Mississippi River on Robert and Plato will be one of the first stops
after crossing the river.  Therefore, it is a fairly short ride, perhaps
five minutes or so.  If
Plato is ahead when you exit the bus, cross Plato and turn right.  The
building in which Senator Franken has his office is approsimately three
blocks west of
Robert.

We will be providing additional details after we have had an opportunity to
visit the area, but the above should give you a good idea of where we will
be.

Here again is the original information for reference:

As many of you know who were at the national convention or at the Metro
Chapter meeting earlier this week, there is
an attempt to bring the concept of subminimum wages for blind workers into
the rehabilitation system.  It is being done
with the intention of providing some protection to those receiving less than
the minimum wage, but has been poorly
thought out and it gives work at less than the minimum wage a place within
rehabilitation that it has never had before.
We passed a resolution opposing this addition to the rehabilitation act and
worked hard to get this provision, known as
Section 511, withdrawn.  With budget negotiations and other distractions, it
is difficult to get the attention of the
senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee
hearing this bill, so the press release below
announces our intention to hold a national information picket of all
district offices of senators on this committee.  We
have chosen next Tuesday, July 26, because it is a particuarly significant
date, being the date upon which the
Americans with Disabilities Act was passed.  Of course, we will not include
those senators who are willing to help us
get this section removed.

Therefore, We are planning to gather at Senator Al Franken's office, next
Tuesday, July 26, at 10:00 AM (until noon) to inform the
public about this new provision and express our opposition to the payment of
subminimum wages to disabled people,
and to call upon him to help us get this provision removed.  Senator Franken
is the only senator from Minnesota on this
committee.

It is very important that we know if you can participate.  Besides needing
to know how many people to expect, we
need to be able to inform you of further details and last minute changes to
plans.  We can always hope that we can
get Senator Franken's support, for example.  If you can participate, please
contact Judy Sanders at

Telephone:
612-375-1625

E-mail:
jsanders.nfb at comcast.net

Do not reply to this note because this is our news list and it cannot take
replies.  Please watch for further details as
they develop.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

From: "Freeh, Jessica" <JFreeh at nfb.org>
Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:47:53 -0700
Subject: UPDATED: Blind Americans to Protest Subminimum Wages

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen at nfb.org
Blind Americans to Protest Subminimum Wages
Members of National Federation of the Blind Plan
 Informational Pickets Across United States

Baltimore, Maryland (July 20, 2011): The National Federation of the Blind,
the oldest and largest nationwide
organization of blind people, announced today that its members will conduct
informational protests across the United
States to raise awareness about the practice of paying wages below the
federal minimum wage to Americans with
disabilities.  The protests will take place on July 26, the twenty-first
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
at the primary district office locations of United States Senators serving
on the Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions (the HELP Committee).  The HELP Committee is
currently considering legislation-the
Workforce Investment Act-which would reauthorize the payment of subminimum
wages to disabled workers.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"Unequal pay for equal work on the basis of
disability is unfair, discriminatory, and immoral.  The senators who serve
on the HELP Committee must decide whether
they stand for the outrageous exploitation of disabled workers, or for true
equality for Americans with disabilities."

On Wednesday, August 3, the HELP Committee is scheduled to vote on the
Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which
contains language reauthorizing the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
  The Rehabilitation Act is supposed to
provide services to disabled Americans so that they can obtain competitive
employment, but Title V, Section 511 of
the proposed Rehabilitation Act language references Section 14(c) of the
1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),
which allows certain entities holding special wage certificates to pay
workers with disabilities less than the federal
minimum wage.

For more information on the National Federation of the Blind and fair wages
for workers with disabilities, please visit
www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org/>.  Contact the NFB's Director of Public
Relations for the specific time and location
of any of these protests.

###

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the
largest and most influential membership
organization of blind people in the United States.  The NFB improves blind
people's lives through advocacy,
education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and
self-confidence.  It is the leading
force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In
January 2004 the NFB opened the National
Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training
center in the United States for the blind led by
the blind.

--
This is the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota's News and
information Listserve.
Our Web site is http://www.nfbmn.org

To join Minnesota-Talk, the Minnesota-related discussion list, go to
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===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE===================

--
This is the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota's News and
information Listserve.
Our Web site is http://www.nfbmn.org

To join Minnesota-Talk, the Minnesota-related discussion list, go to
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/minnesota-talk_nfbnet.org

-- 
Jordan Richardson
President, Minnesota Association of Blind Students
lilrichie411 at gmail.com
"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
~*Frederick Douglass*<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/frederickd201574.html>