[nabs-l] Old NABS list post from Sean Whalen about subminimum wages

[Arielle Silverman]

>From June 2012:

Good afternoon,

One of the primary purposes of the boycott is to garner media attention for
the minimum wage issue. The boycott effort and PR/media efforts are
complementary rather than mutually exclusive.

We "pick on" Good Will because they are one of, if not the, largest and most
visible nonprofits who take advantage of the current law to pay workers with
disabilities subminimum wages. When you're the biggest fish in the pond
you're going to get noticed and your actions will be scrutinized by people
in and out of your field. That's just the way it goes.

Most of these workshops do the vast majority of their business with the
federal government, providing goods and services through non-competitive
set-aside contracts. These goods and services are frequently provided at
costs that exceed their fair market value. Obviously Good Will has their
hands in other activities as well, but the point stands. If taxpayers are
being asked to subsidize nonprofits to create employment opportunities for
blind or otherwise disabled individuals, and we all, in effect, subsidize
the very good, and sometimes exorbitant, salaries of the management of these
non-profits, why is it a bad idea to subsidize the wages of disabled
individuals, even those who may not be able to produce output justifying the
minimum wage in the market?

I think that the number of disabled folks in these workshops who are
incapable of truly earning the minimum wage is much lower than most people
assume. And, again, if there is somebody whose level of output truly only
justifies $1.50 per hour, I am happy to subsidize the wage to give them the
dignity of equal treatment under the law.

I myself worked for a time in a shop and was paid less than $4 per hour. I'm
worth more than that. I saw others in the very same boat. The law is
discriminatory, and the system is corrupt and fails to achieve its stated
goals. Not only should the minimum wage apply, but organizations wishing to
receive preferential treatment in government contracting should have to fill
a stated percentage of their managerial positions with folks with
disabilities and offer true training and upward mobility. As it stands now,
there is no real opportunity in the vast majority of these workshops.

While it is true that, generally speaking, the NFB only speaks for the
blind, on this issue we have over 40 different disabilities rights
organizations standing shoulder to shoulder with us saying that it is
reprehensible that we, today in the United States of America, have a law on
the books that codifies the inferiority and lesser ability of those with
disabilities. We, and they, are completely correct. The boycott of Good Will
is but one piece of the larger effort. It is incumbent upon each of us to
keep pressure on our Members of Congress to change the law. Will it cost
Good Will and other non-profits more money to pay all their workers minimum
wage? Yes, it will. Is the tiny increase in cost realistically going to lead
to the loss of job opportunities as many of the workshops claim? I can't see
how it would. In fact, it won't. And the argument is disingenuous and,
frankly, pretty disgusting. Say a shop worker currently makes $1.50 an hour.
Say the law is changed and minimum wage now applies. Say the employee is now
paid $7.50 an hour. That's an extra $6 an hour, an extra $240 a week, and
$12,480 a year. Say Good Will has 100 employees of whom this is the case (in
reality there are fewer). This would represent an annual cost increase of
$1,248,000 to Good Will. That's a lot of money to you or me, but a pittance
to this giant non-profit. The same can be said of smaller shops, just on a
smaller scale. The argument that all the poor unemployable disabled folks
will be sent home jobless if the law is changed is bogus and cynical. As I
said before, the majority of these shops get the majority of their business
through non-competitive contracts with the government, so the additional
labor cost would be built right into the price the government pays. And, as
I also said, I am happy to have my tax dollars go to affirm the dignity,
value and legal equality of all individuals rather than to support the 70,
80, 100k salaries of the management types at these shops who somehow sleep
at night under the illusion, or maybe delusion, that they are doing
something positive for people with disabilities. It's wrong, it's
disgusting, and, yes, it hits a raw nerve with me because I've lived it. If
there is a minimum wage it should apply to everybody in the employment
market, full stop.

Sean