[Nfbmt] National Federation of the Blind to Unmask Goodwill’s Exploitation of Workers with Disabilities

[Sheila Leigland]

thank you for this post.
On 10/31/2013 2:45 PM, James Aldrich wrote:
> This is for your information!
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> From:Freeh, JessicaTo:State President, Puerto RicoState 
> President,Connecticut State President, ArizonaStateNewOregon State 
> President, KentuckyCharlene SmythStateVermontKansas State President, 
> North DakotaState President, IdahoState President, OhioSchroeder, 
> FredStateNorthMissouri <gwunder at earthlink.net>, James Aldrich 
> <jkaldrich at samobile.net>, State President, PennsylvaniaState 
> President,Minnesota State President, AlaskaJoe RuffaloState 
> President,Wyoming State President, South DakotaKimberly FloresState 
> President, MassachusettsState President,Delaware State President, 
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> President,Hawaii <nanifife at aol.com>, State President, LouisianaState 
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> AlabamaState President, ArkansasState President, DistrictFlorida State 
> President, GeorgiaStateMichiganNevada State President, New 
> HampshireState President, New MexicoState President, OklahomaState 
> President, RhodeUtahSubject:National Federation of the Blind to Unmask 
> Goodwill’s Exploitation of Workers with Disabilities
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
>
> CONTACT:
>
> Chris Danielsen
>
> Director of Public Relations
>
> National Federation of the Blind
>
> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>
> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>
> cdanielsen at nfb.org
>
>
>
> National Federation of the Blind to Unmask
> Goodwill’s Exploitation of Workers with Disabilities
>
> NFB Members to Educate Donors about
> Goodwill’s Discrimination Against Workers with Disabilities
>
>
>
> Baltimore, Maryland (October 31, 2013):The National Federation of the 
> Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest organization of blind people in 
> the United States, announced that it will hold a public awareness 
> event today regarding Goodwill Industries International’s payment of 
> wages as low as pennies per hour to workers with disabilities.  
> Members of the NFB will deliver copies of a recent Change.org petition 
> to various Goodwill headquarters across the country.  The petition 
> garnered 170,000 signatures from Americans who demand that Goodwill 
> pay its workers with disabilities a real wage.
>
>
>
> Goodwill is one of the many nonprofit organizations that takes 
> advantage of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an 
> obscure provision that permits employers to pay workers with 
> disabilities less than the federal minimum wage.  For over seventy 
> years, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act has allowed 
> employers to obtain special wage certificates that permit them to pay 
> their workers with disabilities wages far less than the federal minimum.
>
> Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, in 
> his banquet speech delivered at the 2013 NFB National Convention, 
> said: “Our benevolent superiors (self-appointed, self-governing, 
> self-important, self-willed) have determined that a wage structure in 
> our country that offers to pay us less than the federally guaranteed 
> minimum wage available to everybody else has been established for our 
> own good…They tell us that our lives have been improved through this 
> system of government-authorized discrimination, while they collect 
> their six- and seven-figure compensation packages.”
>
> Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS) has introduced H.R. 831, the Fair 
> Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013, to repeal Section 
> 14(c) of the FLSA.  The National Federation of the Blind, along with a 
> growing list of over sixty national and local cross-disability 
> organizations, support the passage of H.R. 831 to responsibly repeal 
> this discriminatory provision over a three-year period.
>
>
>
>
>
> ###
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> About the National Federation of the Blind
>
>
>
> The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the oldest, largest, and 
> most influential nationwide membership organization of blind people in 
> the United States. Founded in 1940, the NFB advocates for the civil 
> rights and equality of blind Americans, and develops innovative 
> education, technology, and training programs to provide the blind and 
> those who are losing vision with the tools they need to become 
> independent and successful.
>