[NFBMT] the Fight Against Subminimum Wages ... we're not the only ones

Thu Aug 30 03:00:12 UTC 2018

Interesting reading.  I linked to it from the Disability Rights Montana web
site.  Joy 

 <https://www.diversityinc.com/tag/national%20organization%20on%20disability>
national organization on disability 

Let's Stop Cheating the Disabled 

Sheltered workshops are vestiges of the past and should be reformed or
abolished. 

August 17, 2018 

By Carol Glazer, President of the National Organization on Disability 

Consider this: Businesses in regions with the lowest unemployment rates
employ disproportionate numbers of workers with disabilities [1]. 

The implication? People with disabilities are more than capable, they're just
not companies' first, second, or even third choice. But when employers need
talent, they give new people a chance. And when given the chance, people with
disabilities succeed. 

  _____  

Many of those without job prospects end up in sheltered workshops, places
that legally perpetuate segregation by isolating workers with disabilities
and, for over 140,000 Americans, paying far less than minimum wage-as little
as pennies per hour. Sheltered workshops are vestiges of a misguided time
when people with disabilities were believed to need charity and seclusion. We
now know both beliefs are incorrect. 

Moreover, workshops - which claim to be training grounds for bigger things -
don't actually prepare workers for competitive employment; only 5% of people
leave workshops for community jobs. Not because they can't perform, but
because there aren't pathways. Most go from sheltered workshops to elder
care, not better lives. 

What many workshops actually do, even with ironic names like Opportunity
Village, is profit off of their practically-indentured workforces by
providing cheap labor to major corporations. Is this illegal? No. Immoral?
Certainly. Can we do better? Absolutely. 

Worst of all, the payment of less than minimum wage to Americans with
disabilities is a callous rebuke to the dignity for which workers have fought
and bled. To pay us less is to imply that we are less. People with
disabilities can't work? Neither could black people or women, at one time.
It's an inane belief, and suited more to 1918 than 2018. 

The 40-hour work week. Safe working environments. Child labor bans. A minimum
wage. 

As recently as 75 years ago these standards would have been dismissed as
fantasy. Yet here we are. And as we celebrate our 124th Labor Day this year,
we not only pay tribute to the workers who sacrificed to advance our
well-being, we also recertify our collective obligation to leave behind a
better workforce than we inherited. 

So what can we do? 

First, do your homework on the businesses you support. If businesses are
profiting off of workers earning subminimum wages, stop buying from them. How
do you know which businesses those are?
<https://www.dol.gov/whd/workerswithdisabilities/certificates.htm> Here are
the lists. You may see some familiar names, with Goodwill the most notorious
(and frequent) opportunist. 

Second, and more simple, tell your friends and families. Sheltered workshops
have lasted this long because they exist largely unbeknownst to the public.
So spread the word. 

We must reform or abolish these institutions. It will be hard for some
people, but change always is. For a small number of Americans with
disabilities, sheltered workshops provide a purpose and place to go each day.
That's a good thing. But they are woefully inefficient; with a 5% success
rate, this cannot be argued. And no one should be paid less than minimum
wage. 

[1] Brookings Institute, 2018 

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*
<http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/toolaction/employmentfs.pdf>
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*
<http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/employing-people-with-disa
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*
<https://www.diversityinc.com/the-ada-28-years-of-opportunity-unrealized> The
ADA: 28 Years of Opportunity Unrealized - DiversityInc  

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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerry_Lewis_MDA_Labor_Day_Telethon> The
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*         <https://www.dol.gov/odep/> Office of Disability Employment Policy
- United States Department of ...  

*
<http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/economics-employment/labor2001.htm>
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