[nfbmi-talk] The Goodwill Bullies

Tue Sep 11 23:55:25 UTC 2012

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org>

CityWatch<http://www.citywatchla.com/index.php>
Last update 09:30:28 PM GMT
LOS ANGELES Tuesday, September 11th 2012 8:48
The Goodwill Bullies
<http://www.citywatchla.com/lead-stories/3737-the-goodwill-bullies>
09.10.2012
John Hrabe
[cid:image001.png at 01CD9031.7A227C10]<http://www.citywatchla.com/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jaXR5d2F0Y2hsYS5jb20vbGVhZC1zdG9yaWVzLzM3MzctdGhlLWdvb2R3aWxsLWJ1bGxpZXM=>
*         [cid:image002.png at 01CD9031.7A227C10]
<http://www.citywatchla.com/lead-stories/3737-the-goodwill-bullies?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=>
*         [cid:image003.png at 01CD9031.7A227C10]
<http://www.citywatchla.com/lead-stories/3737-the-goodwill-bullies?format=pdf>
[cid:image004.png at 01CD9031.7A227C10]
CALWATCHDOG - Goodwill is synonymous with used-clothing donations.

The national syndicate of secondhand retail stores is by far the
biggest player in the clothing donation business. However, it's losing
market share to smaller nonprofits, churches and even some for-profit
businesses, all of which have replicated the Goodwill charitable
model.

So, Goodwill Industries Inc., like many struggling entities, has
turned to the government for help.
To stop "illegitimate" organizations from cutting into their profits,
Goodwill sponsored AB 1978 by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani,
D-Stockto<http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1978&search_keywords=>n.
The bill, which is currently on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk, "would
require the written consent of a property owner or the property
owner's authorized agent before a collection box may be placed on the
property owner's property."
 Sounds reasonable, right? Good intentions shouldn't allow charities
to disregard private property rights. But some smaller charities say
that's not what the bill is really about. They believe, under the
pretext of property rights, Goodwill is trying to squeeze them out of
the secondhand clothing business.

"The 'Goodwill Bill' is nothing less than a naked and aggressive
attempt by Goodwill to use the California Legislature to accomplish
what they cannot accomplish through the natural market and fair
competition," John Lindsay, vice-president of development for D.A.R.E.
America told CalWatchDog. "I would ask Gov. Brown to veto this bill."

D.A.R.E. America<http://www.dare.com/home/default.asp>, which does not
receive federal funds, uses clothing bins to raise money for its
programs. It also gives some of the donated items away to the victims
of natural disasters, such as the victims of this year's floods in
Minnesota and last year's tornadoes in Alabama.

Lindsay says that D.A.R.E. America always obtains permission before
placing a donation bin.
"D.A.R.E. always obtains permission from the property owner or her/his
agent," he said. "We will not drop a bin without permission.  We
voluntarily are in full compliance with
Generalcode.com<http://Generalcode.com>, a resource for cities and
counties when drafting codes related to planning, building, and
zoning."
Why, then, are charities like D.A.R.E. so worried about the bill?

Lindsay says it's not always easy to obtain permission from the
property owner compared to the lessee or affected business.  For
example, a charity interested in putting a donation bin at the
neighborhood Walmart would normally seek permission from the store
manager. This bill would stop that and require permission from whoever
owns the parking lot or brick-and-mortar building.
 "Many properties are owned by large corporations and companies,"
Lindsay said. "Actually obtaining the written permission of the
'property owner' vs. permission from the agent or lessee are two
different things."

The same goes for a small family-owned restaurant. The property owner,
not restaurateur, would have to approve the bin. That's why AB 1978
isn't a simple property rights issue. Or rather, there's an argument
that the bill's onerous requirement undermines the property rights of
lessees, who are unable to fully utilize the property they're leasing.

The bill's sponsors argue that the bill specifies property owner
because that's who will be subject to code enforcement.

"The property owner should be the one who gives permission because the
property owner is the one who is going to be subjected to any code
enforcement," Richie Ross, a Sacramento lobbyist and political advisor
to the bill's author Galgiani, told California's Capitol. "Goodwill
cares because some portion of the $8 million that's getting siphoned
off would go to them."

Goodwill organizations throughout the country claim there has been a
massive increase in the number of illegitimate charities "siphoning
off" their donations. However, the assertion isn't backed up with any
hard data.

"There has been a recent surge of unattended collection boxes,"
Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada, one of the
bill's sponsors argued in support of the bill. "They have become a
nuisance, target for illegal dumping, and a blatant violation of
property rights."

Goodwill's bill is a part of an overall campaign to regain control of
the secondhand clothing market. Earlier this year, Goodwill
unsuccessfully backed an Oakland ordinance that would have "imposed an
annual fee of $450 per box, included a cap on the number of bins
citywide (60) and per vendor (15), and would have imposed fines on
organizations for boxes that aren't maintained or are without
permits."

Goodwill would benefit from caps on the number of collection bins
because it commonly uses larger tractor-trailer donation centers.
Smaller charities, on the other hand, use smaller bins. And that's why
the permission requirements of AB 1978 would make it more difficult
for these smaller charities to compete with Goodwill.

"Goodwill only has to obtain the permission of one property owner to
collect x number of pounds of clothing, whereas D.A.R.E. might need 20
bins, and the written consent of 20 property owners," Lindsay told
CalWatchDog.com.

Lindsay's organization routinely works with other nonprofits to
sponsor charitable events. And he's quick to point out that he
supports Goodwill's mission.

"I have nothing but positive things to say about the mission of
Goodwill, but their tactics over the last few years are despicable,"
he said. "They should be ashamed that they feel the need to use their
clout to squeeze out their competition in such a manipulative manner."

D.A.R.E. fears that AB 1978 will be used to squeeze them and other
charities out of the donation market, a fear that is supported by
Goodwill's own statements. Goodwill Industries of San Joaquin Valley
Inc., another co-sponsor of AB 1978, vows that if Brown signs the bill
into law, they'll use it to help "cities to rid the territory of
unwanted boxes."

"After AB 1978 becomes law, Goodwill Industries SJV will continue to
work closely with property owners and cities to rid the territory of
unwanted boxes," the organization explains in talking points about the
bill. "Property owners and city code enforcement will be given legal
authority to have unauthorized boxes towed and impounded without
incurring liability."

Or, in Lindsay's words, "Goodwill has appointed themselves a state
agency, here to help save California from unwanted boxes."

"The first step to crushing an opponent is to either dehumanize them
or put yourself above them," he said of Goodwill's attitude toward
other charities.

The same could also be said for how Goodwill treats its own employees.

The mission of Goodwill Industries is to provide job training and
placement services to individuals that would otherwise face employment
barriers.

"But Goodwill is really an employer," Ross explained to California's
Capitol in August. "The money they get is used to hire the disabled -
2,000 people who otherwise wouldn't have jobs."
Because they "otherwise wouldn't have jobs," Goodwill pays some
disabled employees less than the federal minimum wage. A CBS News
affiliate in Denver reported last month that some Goodwill employees
claim to earn "just 20 cents an hour."

Goodwill Industries exploits a loophole in the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938, which grants organizations with a "special wage
certificates" an exemption from the federal minimum wage. The National
Federation of the Blind recently organized a protest of Goodwill to
draw attention to the law, which it calls "unfair, discriminatory, and
immoral."

"Goodwill is a household name, but most households do not realize that
Goodwill is one of the many employers that pay less than the federal
minimum wage to their workers with disabilities," the NFB states on
its website. "Some Goodwill-affiliated agencies pay their workers with
disabilities at least the federal minimum wage, but 64 of the 165
Goodwill-affiliated agencies choose to limit the vocational potential
of their workers with disabilities by paying them pennies per hour."

Among the 64 Goodwill-affiliated agencies with the legal authority to
pay the disabled sub-minimum wages, none other than Goodwill
Industries of Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada, a co-sponsor of AB
1978. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Sacramento, which joined
the National Federation of the Blind's August protest effort, first
identified the Sacramento affiliate's minimum wage exemption on its
Facebook page.

"This was a good protest," one ASAN protestor wrote on the group's
Facebook wall. "We successfully managed to persuade 4 people to turn
around - that is, away from the store's doors - and to go home, thus
causing Goodwill to lose business. This is a good start."

But, disability advocates could see that good start wiped out, if
Brown signs AB 1978.

(John Hrabe blogs at CalWatchdog.com<http://CalWatchdog.com> where
this column was first posted. See CalWatchdog.com for other respected
writers and journalists ... Katy Grimes, Steven Greenhut, Joseph
Perkins.)
-cw

Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A.
Director of Strategic Communications

"Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities"
http://www.nfb.org/fairwages

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland   21230

(410) 659-9314 ext. 2374 (Voice)
(410) 685-5653 (FAX)
Email: alewis at nfb.org<mailto:alewis at nfb.org>
Web: www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 223 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120911/3668e82e/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 254 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120911/3668e82e/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 432 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120911/3668e82e/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 288649 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120911/3668e82e/attachment-0003.png>