[Nfb-or] [ALewis at nfb.org: [Nfbnet-master-list] Legislative Alert Subminimum wage]

[Tami Kinney]

Thanks for this info! Most certainly will do. I'd heard a British PM had
proposed such a regressive notion over there, but didn't know we were
facing that here, too. Breathtaking!

On Thu, 2011-06-23 at 19:25 -0700, T. Joseph Carter wrote:
> Sen. Jeff Merkley sits on the committee that can put a stop to this.  
> I urge everyone to contact him and make some noise.  We need to let 
> him know that we will NOT tolerate sub-minimum wages for the blind 
> and others with disabilities!
> 
> Joseph
> 
> 
> ----- Forwarded message from "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org> -----
> 
> Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:06:32 -0500
> From: "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org>
> To: nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfbnet-master-list] Legislative Alert Subminimum wage
> Message-ID: <auto-000017340626 at mailfront4.g2host.com>
> 
> Dear Fellow Federationists:
> 
> I am writing to inform you that a principle tenet of our organization 
> is being threatened.  We are actively developing legislation that will 
> work toward the repeal of Regulation 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards 
> Act (FLSA).  Meanwhile, the proposed language in Title V of the 
> Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization, specifically Section 
> 511 of the Rehabilitation Act, threatens to send us backward in our 
> struggle for full participation and competitive employment at 
> competitive wages.
> 
> Most of us are aware that in 1938, when every other employee in 
> America was being guaranteed the workforce protection of a federal 
> minimum wage through the passage of the FLSA, Section 14(c) of this 
> act denied the blind and other workers with disabilities this same 
> protection by allowing for the payment of subminimum wages.  Since our 
> founding in 1940, the National Federation of the Blind has fought 
> against the erroneous misconception that blind people cannot be 
> productive employees, and we have made significant strides toward a 
> correct understanding of the true capacity of the blind.  Contrarily, 
> the proposed language found in Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act 
> is a tacit endorsement of Section 14(c) of the FLSA and its antiquated 
> contention that people with disabilities cannot be competitively 
> employed.
> 
> If passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 
> language in Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act will create a link 
> between the Rehabilitation Act and Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor 
> Standards Act that has never before existed.  This will create 
> legislation with a conflict between the philosophy of capacity for 
> competitive employment set by the Rehabilitation Act, and the 
> philosophy of incapacity toward subminimum wages set by Section 14(c) 
> of the FLSA, setting the stage for more workers with disabilities to 
> be inappropriately steered toward sheltered employment and a life of 
> low expectations rewarded with subminimum wages.
> 
> The following list contains the names of members of the Senate HELP 
> committee.  If your Senator is a member of the committee, please call 
> his/her office to respectfully express your adamant objection to 
> linking subminimum wage to the Rehabilitation Act, and to insist that 
> Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act be removed from the bill.  If 
> your Senator is not a member of the HELP committee, call the committee 
> chair (Senator Tom Harkin) and the ranking member (Senator Michael 
> Enzi) to register your objection.
> 
> Please share this information with friends and family and encourage 
> them to assist us with this effort.  Please call or e-mail me with any 
> questions, and to keep me posted on your progress.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Anil Lewis
> Director of Strategic Communications
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
> Telephone:  (410) 659-9314, extension 2374
> E-mail: <mailto:alewis at nfb.org>alewis at nfb.org
> 
> Senator
> State
> Telephone
> Senator Lamar Alexander
> Tennessee
> (202) 224-4944
> Senator Michael F. Bennet
> Colorado
> (202) 224-5852
> Senator Jeff Bingaman
> New Mexico
> (202) 224-5521
> Senator Richard Blumenthal
> Connecticut
> (202) 224-2823
> Senator Richard Burr
> North Carolina
> (202) 224-3154
> Senator Robert Casey, Jr.
> Pennsylvania
> (202) 224-6324
> Senator Mike Enzi
> Wyoming
> (202) 224-3424
> Senator Al Franken
> Minnesota
> (202) 224-5641
> Senator Kay R. Hagan
> North Carolina
> (202) 224-6342
> Senator Tom Harkin
> Iowa
> (202) 224-3254
> Senator Orrin G. Hatch
> Utah
> (202) 224-5251
> Senator Johnny Isakson
> Georgia
> (202) 224-3643
> Senator Mark Steven Kirk
> Illinois
> (202) 224-2854
> Senator John McCain
> Arizona
> (202) 224-2235
> Senator Jeff Merkley
> Oregon
> (202) 224-3753
> Senator Barbara A. Mikulski
> Maryland
> (202) 224-4654
> Senator Lisa Murkowski
> Alaska
> (202) 224-6665
> Senator Patty Murray
> Washington
> (202) 224-2621
> Senator Rand Paul
> Kentucky
> (202) 224-4343
> Senator Pat Roberts
> Kansas
> (202) 224-4774
> Senator Bernard Sanders
> Vermont
> (202) 224-5141
> Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
> Rhode Island
> (202) 224-2921
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> ----- End forwarded message -----
> 
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