[nabs-l] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind Urges Boycott of Goodwill Industries

[Stephanie H. DeLuca]

So this is interesting....

In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
    ~Louis Pasteur, lecture 1854


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
Date: Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 11:37 PM
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind Urges
Boycott of Goodwill Industries
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org



*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



*National Federation of the Blind Urges Boycott of Goodwill Industries*


*Condemns Practice of Paying Subminimum Wages to Workers with Disabilities*



*Baltimore, Maryland (June 7, 2012):* The National Federation of the
Blind<http://www.nfb.org/>(NFB), one of the oldest and largest
organizations of Americans with
disabilities, today called for a boycott of Goodwill Industries
International, Inc., the nonprofit manufacturer and retailer, for its
payment of subminimum wages to many of its workers with disabilities.
Freedom of information requests filed by the NFB confirmed that Goodwill
Industries employees have been paid as low as $1.44 an hour.  The NFB and over
forty-five other
organizations<http://nfb.org/Images/nfb/documents/word/HR_3086_Support_List_2.doc>support
legislation, the Fair
Wages for Workers with Disabilities
Act<http://nfb.org/Images/nfb/SI/Fair%20Wages%20for%20Workers%202012.pdf>(H.R.
3086), which would phase out and then repeal the nearly
seventy-five-year-old provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that
permits special certificate
holders<http://www.dol.gov/whd/specialemployment/CRPlist.htm>to pay
subminimum wages to workers with disabilities.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the
Blind<http://www.twitter.com/nfb_voice>,
said: “Goodwill Industries is one of the most well-known and lucrative
charitable organizations in the United States, yet it chooses to pay its
workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage.  While this
practice is currently legal and many entities engage in it, many other
nonprofit organizations have successfully transitioned to paying their
employees the minimum wage or higher.  That Goodwill Industries exploits
many of its workers in this way is ironic, because its president and chief
executive officer is blind.  Goodwill cannot credibly argue that workers
with disabilities are incapable of doing productive work while paying its
blind CEO over half a million dollars a year.  Goodwill should be ashamed
of such blatant hypocrisy.   We are calling upon all Americans to refuse to
do business with Goodwill Industries, to refuse to make donations to the
subminimum-wage exploiter, and to refuse to shop in its retail stores until
it exercises true leadership and sound moral judgment by fairly
compensating its workers with disabilities.”



For more information on this critically important issue, please visit
www.nfb.org/fairwages.





*###
*

*
*

*
*
*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.

*
*






_______________________________________________
Nfbnet-members-list mailing list
Nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org