[Nfbmo] Fwd: NFB responds to Goodwill Industries defense of payingsubmini...

Tue Jun 12 17:38:36 UTC 2012

Glad you liked it Gary - I try not to be partisan in my posts to my friends 
 since they include all varieites of political interest from none at all to 
 highly-committed.
Dan

In a message dated 6/12/2012 12:32:29 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
GWunder at earthlink.net writes:

Good note  Dan, and what is more significant is your move to go beyond those
who will  agree and to speak to those who otherwise will not hear or will
hear from  someone else.

Warmly,

Gary

-----Original  Message-----
From: nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org  [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of DanFlasar at aol.com
Sent:  Tuesday, June 12, 2012 11:20 AM
To: nfbmo at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbmo]  Fwd: NFB responds to Goodwill Industries defense of
payingsubminimum  wages

Hi everybody - I sent this  message to all my non-NFB  friends today - 
thought you  mnight be   interested.

Hi all,

As you know, I am very involved in  civil rights  issues for the disabled. 
Generally, these issues are  non-partisan - we  usually can count on 
supporters from both sides of  the aisle.    Please accept this note as
informational.
One of  the major issues for blind and disabled workers - in addition to   
high unemployment - has been the exploitation of a loophole in the  Fair
Labor  
Standards Act to allow workers w/ disabilities to be  paid subminimum wage. 

Given that the minimum wage itself is barely  enough to pay for living  
expenses, and given that living and  transportation expenses for the 
disabled

are generally much higher than  the non-disabled, this practice places an  
increasingly difficult  burden for these workers. This year a consortium of 

organizations -  including the NFB - proposed changes to the Fair Labor  Act
to  
eliminate this practice. Training programs, which aim to provide  work  
experiences to the disabled with a stipend payment would not  be  affected.
Goodwill Industries has resisted this effort. There is a  link to their  
response to the NFB's call for a boycott of Goodwill  with a nonspecific PR 

statement that does not address the heart of  the issues (see link below).  

_a statement issued by  Goodwill Industries International,  Inc.,_  
(http://www.goodwill.org/press-releases/goodwillR-believes-in-the-power-of-w
ork-for-al
l-individuals/)  

As the story details below, Goodwill has refused to speak with  the NFB  
and 
other organizations of disabled 
workers about these  issues.
We all know Goodwill and we probably all contribute to them. I  certainly  
do and know they provide rare chances for training and  employment for many 

people. However, their attempts to prevent  changes to the Fair Employment
Act 
to provide minimum wage to their  disabled employees tarnishes their  
reputation. It is important that  they engage these organizations in  'good
will'  
negotiations.

Dan

National  Federation of the Blind Responds to
Goodwill Statement  on Sub minimum  Wages

Baltimore, Maryland (June 11, 2012): _The  National  Federation of the 
Blind_ (http://www.nfb.org/)  (NFB)  today responded to _a  statement issued
by 
Goodwill Industries  International, Inc.,_  
(http://www.goodwill.org/press-releases/goodwillR-believes-in-the-power-of-w
ork-for-all-individuals/)   regarding 
its payment of sub minimum wages to workers with   disabilities.

_Dr. Marc Maurer_  (http://www.nfb.org/marc-maurer-bio) , President  of the 

_National  Federation of the Blind_  
(http://www.facebook.com/NationalFederationoftheBlind) , said:  "Goodwill
frames its opposition to _fair wages for 
workers with   disabilities_ (http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages)  in terms of 
choice.  Goodwill wants the publicand in  particular its own  employees
with 
disabilitiesto believe that the  only  choice that Americans with 
disabilities have is between receiving   subminimum wages or receiving no
wages at 
all. This is a false  choice  based on inaccurate and self-serving 
propaganda

put out by  Goodwill and _other  subminimum-wage exploiters. _  
(http://www.dol.gov/whd/specialemployment/CRPlist.htm) The reality is  that
workers with  
disabilities are not limited to the false  choice presented by the industry 

that exploits them. Workers with  even the most severe disabilities can and 

do engage in competitive  employment every day. The way to lower the high  
unemployment rate  among workers with disabilities is to enhance and expand 

existing  programsand to create new onesthat help them to find   
and

maintain competitive employment, not to exploit them in   subminimum-wage 
sweatshops. These sweatshops proclaim by their  policies  and behavior to 
the

public, to other employers, and to  the employees  themselves that the
workers 
aren't good enough to  be regular employees  earning real wages in regular 
business.  Disabled Americans reject this  false and  misleading
representation."

Goodwill issued its   statement in response to an inquiry from WUSA, the 
CBS 
television   affiliate in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =   
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Washington, D.C.  WUSA  made
the inquiry in 
_its  report_  
(http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/208068/189/Goodwill-Pays-Disabled-Employe
es-Less-than-Minimum-Wage)   on _the  NFB's call for a boycott 
of Goodwill Industries_  
(http://www.nfb.org/national-federation-blind-urges-boycott-goodwill-industr
ies)  , which was issued last  week after repeated 
attempts to meet with  Goodwill officials. NFB  representatives were
interviewed 
on  camera and, along with the WUSA  reporter, sought to speak with  
Goodwill'
s president and chief executive  officer, but Goodwill  declined a meeting 
or to be interviewed on camera.   

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