[nfbmi-talk] from our consumer involvement council

[joe harcz Comcast]

Joe brought up the issue of subminimum wage waivers.  



He stated that the NFB and ACB along with 80 other organizations representing people with disabilities are opposed to the subminimum wage waivers of programs like New Horizons or Peckham or Goodwill or the ARC.  Joe made a motion that since all of the organizations oppose subminimum wage and promote section 504 and all its applications that we recommend to the board that they direct the director not to contract with any of these services.  Fred seconded the motion.  Marianne shared with the members that there is currently a bill being discussed in the House of Representatives, 3086, which is intended to do away with subminimum wage clauses.  She encouraged members to disseminate the information and contact their representatives to support that bill.  Susan mentioned that information on the bill is in the December MCB Report, which is online on the MCB website. The motion was called but several people abstained due to lack of information on the topic.  Joe restated that the CIC recommend to the board that they demand from the director that we do not contract for services with any agency that offers subminimum wage and does not follow section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.  Joe stated that it’s really a simply motion.  Cheryl commented that there are lots of blind people who have other disabilities and are very limited as to what they can do.  By voting for this bill to pass they would be essentially taking away opportunities from people who would not otherwise have them.  Fred felt that there’s no way to rationalize the subminimum wage waivers.  He shared that NFB has worked with sheltered workshops for blind people all across the country to get everyone up to minimum wage and has been successful in doing so.  He stated that it’s been shown that when you pay minimum wage you increase the number of people who can be served and improve the productivity of those facilities because you get equipment in there that helps people be productive.  He feels the subminimum wage idea is an archaic concept that is a civil rights issue and cannot be supported factually.  Cheryl wanted to go on record saying that as a rehabilitation counselor in training she does support competitive wages and withdrew her discussion.  Joe stated that one of the commissioners shared that her daughter has not received Braille or talking technology at a Peckham program.  He stated that the Passport program has refused accommodations to make those programs accessible to the blind.  Cheryl stated that Peckham does have an embosser and she has seen the documents they have produced.  Joe responded by letting Cheryl know that there will be a lawsuit pending because people were refused accommodations on the job and that was at noncompetitive wages.  The motion was called again and passed.