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<div align="center">Petition to Support Fair Wages<br>
for Workers with Disabilities <br>
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<a href="http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition">
www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition</a><br>
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We, the undersigned, are Americans with disabilities who are adversely
affected by subminimum wage payments to workers with disabilities;
representatives of organizations made up of, and working on behalf of,
Americans with disabilities; friends and family members of individuals
who have disabilities; and other concerned citizens who believe in
fairness and equality. We all speak in support of the repeal of
Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which authorizes
Special Wage Certificates that permit employers to pay workers with
disabilities subminimum wages, some as low as 3 cents per hour.<br>
<br>
We reject the low expectations for, the false view of the true capacity
of, and the misguided compassion used to justify this discrimination
against workers with disabilities. This provision has existed for
over seventy years, and rather than creating real employment
opportunities for workers with disabilities, it has relegated hundreds of
thousands of people with disabilities to segregated, subminimum wage work
environments, perpetuated the misconception that workers with
disabilities do not have the capacity for productive employment, and
masked the need for further development and implementation of innovative
employment strategies for the competitive integrated employment of people
with disabilities.<br><br>
We all believe that the future prospects for workers with disabilities
are limited only by the spirit, ambition, and imagination of Americans
with disabilities, and by the willingness of society to expand and
implement enlightened policies that will help them succeed. We
adamantly assert that as long as workers with disabilities are denied the
same workforce protections as every other American citizen, and the
solution to the employment dilemma of workers with disabilities is
thought to be their continued segregation in subminimum-wage work
environments, our society will never truly implement the innovative
employment strategies that empower workers with disabilities to fully
participate in the workforce.<br><br>
For these reasons, we, the undersigned, urge the repeal of Section 14(c)
of the Fair Labor Standards Act in order to abolish the unfair,
discriminatory, immoral practice of paying workers with disabilities
subminimum wages; to reverse over seventy years of mistaken
institutionalized thinking about the employment capacity of people with
disabilities; and to incentivize the development, implementation, and use
of innovative strategies for their competitive, integrated
employment.<br>
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To sign the petition, visit
<a href="http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition">
www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition</a> <br>
<br>
Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A.<br>
Director of Advocacy and Policy<br>
<br>
“Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities” <br>
<a href="http://www.nfb.org/fairwages" eudora="autourl">
http://www.nfb.org/fairwages<br>
</a>NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<br>
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place<br>
Baltimore, Maryland 21230<br>
(410) 659-9314 ext. 2374 (Voice)<br>
(410) 685-5653 (FAX)<br>
Email: alewis@nfb.org<br>
Web: <a href="http://www.nfb.org/" eudora="autourl">www.nfb.org<br>
</a>twitter: @anillife <br>
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