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

[joe harcz Comcast]

Amen.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
To: "'Joe Sontag'" <suncat0 at gmail.com>; "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing 
List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 5:55 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] 
TheWallStreetJournal: When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias


> 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.
>
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> State-affiliate-leadership-list mailing list
> State-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/state-affiliate-leadership-list_nfbnet.or
> g
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> State-affiliate-leadership-list:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/state-affiliate-leadership-list_nfbnet.org
> /president.nfb.mi%40gmail.com
> _______________________________________________
> nfbmi-talk mailing list
> nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nfbmi-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/suncat0%40gmail.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbmi-talk mailing list
> nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nfbmi-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/terrydeagle%40yahoo.
> com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbmi-talk mailing list
> nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nfbmi-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/joeharcz%40comcast.net