[nfbmi-talk] Fw: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] The WallStreetJournal: When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias

Terry Eagle terrydeagle at yahoo.com
Tue Mar 19 21:55:08 UTC 2013


Dear Fellow Federationists and non-Federationists list monitors,

A simple Question:  How can the blind of Michigan and this great nation ever
expect the private sector and corporate American to employ blind individuals
when an agency serving the blind doesn't set an example by training, hiring,
and promoting blind persons?  

Such lack of hiring the blind is also prevalent among the blind employers,
such as the BEP vendors who employ persons for the operation of their snack
bars, vending facilities, and cafeterias with multiple employees. 

Sighted and corporate America, and blind employers, in my opinion, simply
are adopting the attitude and following the lead of the public sector and
blind employers, and not hiring blind persons, using all of the excuses
cited in the survey.  An attitude of ignorance about blindness is the
greatest and leading factor.

Right here in Michigan we have a classic example of such ignorance and
attitude among the sighted and few token blind yes men-and-women employed by
the agency serving the blind.  the attitudes mentioned in the survey are
certainly alive and  apparent at the BS4BP.  For example, it begins with the
lack of proper and appropriate training and orientation to the arena of
blindness by and for new employees, from the BS4BP director to the least
paid classification of employee.  While it may seem trivial to some, the
refusal to or waiver of being immersed and orientated in blindness using
sleep shades for a given period of time is both attitudinal and outwardly
speaks volumes about how sighted persons view the world of blindness.
Counselors and program management who just don't get the importance of a
college student getting books and other resource materials in a timely
manner and useable format, instead of fighting over the why of a $12 braille
ruler, and who should pay the $12 for the ruler.  It is no wonder that the
sighted world views blind persons as it does.  Imagine the picture of blind
persons that is imprinted on the memory of the fellow students, some who are
bound to be making hiring decisions in the future,  as the blind student
sits in class unable to participate for lack of the necessary Braille ruler,
or lack of the required book in an accessible format so the blind student
may stay up-to-date with reading assignments and participate in class
discussions.  

Some will say these examples are rare and have little or no impact on the
lives and future employment of blind persons, however they do, and likely
they will have more impact on those sighted persons, about their view and
attitude toward blindness and the capabilities of blind persons, and more
likely than not, the view and attitude will not be positive, as the
statistics reveal from survey to survey.

As a former employer of many blind and other persons with disabilities, I
can attest to the positive statements and statistics surrounding the proper
training, accommodation, and hiring of persons with blindness and
disabilities.  Such persons are loyal and dedicated employees, take pride in
their work and accomplishments, and rarely miss work for frivolous reason or
excuse.

I also recall a time when MCB counselors, employment placement specialists,
and management were in tune with the needs and demands of employers, the
capabilities and interests of employment-ready and blind persons in
training, and strong relationships were built with employers, for locating,
cultivating, and placement of blind persons in suitable, good paying
employment.  Such was accomplished, in my opinion, because MCB staff were
trained, oriented, and understood blindness, both as sighted and blind
staff.  They were there because they believed in the talents and skills that
blind persons possess, and can possess with appropriate and adequate
training and skill development of and by blind persons.  Those staff and
management were there for more than a bi-weekly paycheck, advancing their
own personal agenda and advancement, and building personal intimate and
relationships of favoritism; putting sighted persons and decisions above the
rule of law.  Unlike the staff member today, staff were there to advance the
life of independence and financial support of blind persons, and seeking out
employment opportunities, training,  and placement of blind persons in
careers and employment.  The prevailing attitude and dedication was focused
on putting a paycheck in the hip pocket of a blind persons, rather than the
hip pocket of MCB staff.  And in those days phone calls from blind persons
to MCB staff were timely answered and calls returned, out of common respect
and genuine interest for the person calling, rather than today's practice of
ignoring phone calls and e-mails extended untimely response, and 11th hour
or crisis mode response.  Now we even have management and staff promoting
WORK-TO-WELFARE, yes I said WORK-TO-WELFARE, for the blind vendors in the
Business Enterprise Program, through legislative action, as mmanagement,
staff, and elected operators' committee members lack the courage to take
appropriate action to stop such non-sense legislation, as they carry out
their personal agendas and vendettas instead, while strengthening the
sighted world poor attitude and action toward blind persons, through their
taking the lead in reinforcing the attitude by their inaction and silence.
In the end, as with the use of sighted vendors in the Business Enterprise
Program, illegally using rehabilitation funds, rather than blind persons
being the beneficiaries of the rehabilitation funds and employment
opportunities under the law, the blind are again the ultimate loser.

How can the sighted world be expected to hire, train, and accommodate the
blind, when the very agency that by law is suppose to serve the best
interests of we the blind, are sold-out by the token blind and the sighted
staff they lead.  This is the same agency that is too embarrassed about
blindness to even place a blind person at the front desk of the agency
central office as a receptionist, let alone a qualified blind cafeteria
operator at the highly visible House of Representatives building cafeteria.
How are we as blind persons to protect and advance employment opportunities
for we the blind with such attitudes and actions of those ignornant and
uncaring career bureaucrats?
                      

----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Joe
Sontag
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 12:51 PM
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] The
WallStreetJournal: When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias

I don't remember the last time, outside of the appointment of the Bureau 
Director, that the Commission or BS4BP hired a blind person.  The attitude 
that I'm picking up increasingly from society in general is that the blind 
are commonly regarded as severely developmentally disabled, almost subhuman 
creatures.  Who will give a real job to anyone with that baggage, regardless

of its false and undeserved nature?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry Posont" <president.nfb.mi at gmail.com>
To: "nfbmi List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 11:05
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] The Wall 
StreetJournal: When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias





From: Pare, John
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 9:48 AM
To: state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] The Wall Street Journal: When It 
Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias


When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias
The Wall Street Journal

.         March 18, 2013, 10:27 AM



By Leslie Kwoh

When it comes to hiring blind employees, many employers remain skeptical.

Bosses often assume blind workers cost more and produce less, according to a

new study. They also believe blind workers are more prone to workplace 
accidents and less reliable than other workers.
The study, scheduled to be released this week by the nonprofit National 
Industries for the Blind, polled 400 human-resources and hiring managers at 
a mix of large and small U.S.-based companies. The group commissioned the 
survey, in part, to shed light on why roughly 70% of the 3.5 million people 
working-age Americans are not employed. (Legally blind Americans are 
eligible for Social Security disability, according to NIB.)

NIB president and chief executive Kevin Lynch described the survey results 
as a "terrible surprise." With the exception of certain jobs that require 
driving or steering, "there are very few jobs that a person who's blind is 
not capable of doing," he says.

The findings reveal a disconnect between what employers say and what they 
do. While the majority of executives claim they want to hire and train 
disabled workers, many view blind workers as an inconvenience.

Hiring managers tended to be slightly more negative than human-resources 
managers, but overall results were similar.

.         Among hiring managers, most respondents (54%) felt there were few 
jobs at their company that blind employees could perform, and 45% said 
accommodating such workers would require "considerable expense."

.         Forty-two percent of hiring managers believe blind employees need 
someone to assist them on the job; 34% said blind workers are more likely to

have work-related accidents.

.         One-quarter of respondents said blind employees are "more 
sensitive" than other employees; the same percentage said they were "more 
difficult to supervise."

.         Twenty-three percent of hiring managers said blind employees are 
not as productive as their colleagues, and 19% believe these employees have 
a higher absentee rate.

Blindness is largely absent from corporate conversation about employees with

disabilities with the exception of sporadic lawsuits: Last August, Hawaiian 
Electric Co. agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a discrimination suit by a 
partially blind employee, the AP reported. And in December, Bloomberg 
reported that a blind ex-banker at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group lost a 
suit seeking disability benefits.

Rarer still is news about companies like apparel business SustainU, based in

West Virginia, which hires blind and visually impaired employees to man its 
factory, according to the New York Times. The company said there was no 
difference in the cost and quality of its goods when compared to that of 
other U.S. manufacturers.

Companies may have to invest some money to provide "reasonable 
accommodations" for a blind employee, as required by the Americans with 
Disabilities Act. However,  says NIB's Lynch, many computers and smartphones

already have built-in features that enable users to change font size and 
light intensity. Installing voice technology that allows computers to "read"

text to a blind employee costs just $1,500 to $2,000, he says. The American 
Foundation for the Blind has estimated that 88% of employee accommodations 
cost less than $1,000.

As for health insurance, company rates are determined by the number of 
incidents among the entire group - not individual employees - no evidence 
suggests that blind employees incur more costs than other workers, Mr. Lynch

says.

Blind employees may also be more loyal than most, he adds. A DePaul 
University study from 2007 found that employees with disabilities were 
likely to stay on the job four months longer, on average, than employees 
without disabilities.

The study also found that workers with disabilities took 1.24 fewer 
scheduled absences than non-disabled workers during a six-month period. But 
they took, on average, 1.13 more days of unscheduled absences.





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