[nfbmi-talk] more on wisc law goodwill etc

[joe harcz Comcast]

Does Goodwill Pay Unfair Wages To Workers With Disabilities?

By

Shamane Mills

 

 

>From and to engage active links :

 

http://news.wpr.org/post/does-goodwill-pay-unfair-wages-workers-disabilities

Goodwill t-shirts tee

Enlarge image

Credit Bob Jagendorf (CC-BY) / http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobjagendorf/3792205747/

Goodwill Industries sometimes pays disabled workers less than federal minimum wage, which is allowed under a section of the 1938 Fair Standards Labor Act.

 

The National Federation of the Blind is putting pressure on Goodwill Industries in an effort to end low pay for disabled workers.

 

Listen

 

A section of the 1938 Fair Standards Labor Act permits employers to pay disabled workers less than federal minimum wage. One of the organizations doing

this is Goodwill.

 

Justin Salsbury of Madison is blind; he has not personally been paid less than minimum wage but knows friends who have. “We want everyone to understand

that there is something happening at Goodwill that is unfair, discriminatory and immoral,” he says.

 

Salsbury and others delivered national petitions to local Goodwills asking them to pressure Goodwill International to require its organizations pay more.

 

Tom Grunder directs workforce development at Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin – one of 4 Goodwill regions in the state. “Basically, out of 165 Goodwills

throughout the world, 101 do not use the subminimum wage – which means they pay workers the minimum wage,” says Grunder. “So there's 64 Goodwills that

use the certificate.”

 

That certificate means they can pay less than minimum wage. Grunder says on average, workers at the South Central Goodwill are paid $8.25, because they

work for businesses in the community with oversight from job coaches. Other Goodwills have what are called “sheltered workshops,” where a disabled person

often gets paid by the piece and sometimes makes less than minimum wage.

 

A bill pending in House would phase out subminimum wage. A similar provision in 2011 failed to come up for a vote.