[nfb-talk] Letter From President Marc Maurer:

[Joshua Lester]

This is the second time, I've received this message.
Thanks, Joshua

On 3/4/12, Kenneth Chrane <kenneth.chrane at verizon.net> wrote:
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> February 23, 2012
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> Dear United States Representative:
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> I am writing to you in support of H.R. 3086, the Fair Wages for Workers with
> Disabilities Act of 2011.  If you are already one of the cosponsors of this
> bill, I thank you.  If you have not signed on as a cosponsor, I urge you to
> do so as quickly as you can.  I am also writing to you representing disabled
> Americans who are affected by subminimum wage payments who want this bill to
> pass.  Furthermore, I am writing to you to sound the alarm against those who
> say that they know better what to do for the disabled than disabled
> Americans themselves.  They will tell you that disabled Americans cannot
> speak for themselves and that they have taken on "this burden."  They are
> trying to deny us our own voice in Congress and we ask you to listen to the
> people, not to the self-appointed so-called spokesmen of the people.
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> The National Federation of the Blind and the growing list of over forty
> other organizations of disabled Americans that support this legislation are
> well aware that those of you who are cosponsoring this legislation or
> considering doing so are receiving considerable pressure from
> representatives of sheltered workshops and others holding special wage
> certificates that allow them to pay less than the federal minimum wage.  You
> are being told that the workers who receive subminimum wages in the
> sheltered workshop system have nowhere else to go, and that their lives
> would be destroyed by H.R. 3086.  Those of you from Missouri, in fact, may
> have received a piece of correspondence that asks, "Where will Sammy, Patti,
> and Becky go when you eliminate their jobs?"  This flyer also contains
> quotes from parents, siblings, and caregivers of sheltered workshop
> employees, wondering what H.R. 3086 will mean for their loved ones.
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> Whatever the motives of the people behind it, the correspondence is based on
> outdated ideas about the capacity of workers with disabilities and a
> misguided commitment to an antiquated model of service to such workers.
> Rather than participating in a constructive dialogue about what life will be
> like for workers with disabilities, once the subminimum wage exemption is
> phased out in three years as required by H.R. 3086, the workshops choose to
> circulate correspondence meant to pull on your heartstrings, to evoke your
> pity, and to promote low expectations.
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> United States Representative
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> February 23, 2012
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> Page two
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> The argument of the sheltered workshops is that some people, particularly
> those with severe developmental disabilities, are simply unfit for
> competitive employment.
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> This is simply wrong.  To continue this practice when proven employment
> strategies exist is inexcusable.
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> We are also told that these individuals must be given a choice.  We are all
> for freedom of choice, but true freedom of choice can only come with
> unbiased and accurate information.  Do Sammy, Patti, and Becky know that
> people like them are in fact working in competitive jobs?  Do they know that
> services like supported employment are already available to help them
> acquire and keep such jobs?  Do their parents, guardians, and loved ones
> know this?  My experience tells me that they do not. Rather, they have far
> more likely been told by sheltered workshop staff-who all too often share
> society's low expectations for disabled people and have an obvious conflict
> of interest-that Sammy, Patti, and Becky will never achieve competitive
> employment and that the sheltered workshop is the best they can hope for.
> In short, what they have been told is neither accurate nor unbiased.
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> Despite the manipulative tone of the correspondence, however, it is fair
> enough to ask what will happen to Sammy, Patti, and Becky and others like
> them if this bill passes.  I believe that the answer to this question is
> limited only by the spirit, ambition, and imagination of disabled workers
> themselves, and by our willingness as a society to work hard to help them
> succeed in their goals.  I believe that disabled workers can do far better
> than receiving pennies per hour.  Under this bill, they will either earn
> real wages in the workshops that currently employ them, or they will receive
> the training and support that they need to obtain competitive employment
> somewhere else.  Imagine for a moment that all of the government and
> philanthropic resources that are currently supporting the sheltered workshop
> system were redirected to finding real employment opportunities for people
> with disabilities.  If they were, I suspect that solutions as yet undreamt
> of would emerge to help such individuals succeed in competitive employment
> situations.
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> The sheltered workshop industry has existed for over seventy years.  Many
> argue that it is an acceptable status quo, which must not be changed.  We
> reject this formulation.  Even if you believe that those of us advocating
> against subminimum wages do not have all the answers, this is no excuse for
> allowing the system to continue.  The current practice of paying subminimum
> wages is unfair, discriminatory, and immoral, and no amount of hand-wringing
> about what may follow it can change that.  Please do not simply let inertia
> direct our course.  We are urging you and other willing partners, including
> any from the sheltered workshop industry, to work with us to find real
> solutions for people like Sammy, Patti, and Becky, rather than shrugging
> your
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> United States Representative
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> February 23, 2012
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> Page three
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> shoulders and saying that the exploitation must continue because we as a
> society will not expend the effort to come up with anything better.
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> There was a time in our nation's history when African-Americans were
> believed to have limited capacity and were fit only for slave labor on
> plantations.  There was a time when women were thought capable only of
> maintaining the family home, and thus were not even permitted to vote.
> Fortunately we realized as a nation that it was bigotry and low expectations
> that were defining the roles of African-Americans and women rather than
> their true capabilities.  We realized, albeit belatedly, that America would
> be a better nation if the true capacities of these citizens were unleashed.
> Americans with disabilities are now calling upon our fellow citizens to
> realize that the soft bigotry of low expectations is condemning workers with
> disabilities to near-slave labor, and that the system that arises from these
> low expectations must be abolished.
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> H.R. 3086 allows for a grace period of three years before sheltered
> workshops and other nonprofit employers currently holding special wage
> certificates must begin to pay their workers at least the federal minimum
> wage.  This is plenty of time for sheltered workshops to study the business
> models of similar entities that are already paying their employees
> competitive wages and make adjustments to their own policies and practices.
> Meanwhile, policy makers can redirect resources to enhance programs like
> supported employment, and create new solutions, to help workers with
> disabilities transition to real work for real wages.
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> As for freedom of choice: I am a person with a disability.  I have been
> blind all of my life.  I know the pain and despair that comes with low
> expectations and prejudice.  Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to
> make real choices about my life and career, and to experience the joy of the
> accomplishments that can only come through full and equal participation in
> society.  I want Sammy, Patti, and Becky to have the choices that I had.  If
> workers with disabilities truly want to stay in the sheltered workshop that
> currently employs them, or a facility like it, then no one will prohibit
> them from doing so.  However, if H.R. 3086 is enacted, wherever they choose
> to work, they will receive real wages that allow them to live fuller lives.
> They will know the satisfaction of receiving the equal pay for equal work
> that they deserve, in addition to any satisfaction that they may receive
> from getting out of the house and being among their friends.  They will no
> longer be dependent upon the resources of their loved ones or on public
> assistance in order to buy the things they need.  They will have disposable
> income to spend in the community, thereby contributing to our society and
> its economy.  They will go from a subsistent existence to one in which they
> can enjoy taking in a movie with their friends, an occasional restaurant
> meal, and all of the other small pleasures of life that other American
> workers take for granted.  They will become free people with real choices,
> not virtual slaves with false ones.
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> United States Representative
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> February 23, 2012
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> Page four
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> On behalf of the National Federation of the Blind, the over forty other
> organizations that support this bill, and the millions of disabled people we
> represent, we urge you to join us in our effort to change the paradigm of
> low expectations and kindly meant but devastating exploitation that has too
> long dominated the lives of over three hundred thousand Americans with
> disabilities.  We ask you to express the courage to support H.R. 3086 and
> the creativity to seek solutions that allow Americans with disabilities to
> become productive citizens.  I thank you for your attention to this urgent
> matter.
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> Sincerely,
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> Marc Maurer, President
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> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
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