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

Sat Jun 25 01:22:35 UTC 2011

The goal of the National Federation of the Blind should be to work 
toward a day when our work is done.  That day isn’t today, obviously.  
We still have a great deal of work to be done.  It’s frightening how 
much at times, especially when we see things like this.

I need to see if I can find a news story about this somewhere to 
point people toward on Twitter and the like.  I suspect though that 
there’s no news—it’s just being done quietly and in the dark.

Joseph

On Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 09:46:09PM -0700, Tami Kinney wrote:
>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
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfbnet-master-list mailing list
>> Nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org
>>
>>
>> ----- End forwarded message -----
>>
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>
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