[nfbwatlk] FW: [Nfbnet-master-list] Legislative Alert Subminimum wage

[Mike Freeman]

Fellow Federationists:

 

I realize that you may have seen the legislative alert reproduced below.
However, I wanted to make certain that all of us give proper attention to
it. For those who have grown complacent and who think that we can't lose
ground in our struggle for independence, first-class citizenship and
equality with the sighted in society, the alert below should cause us to
seriously rethink this notion. If the reauthorization of the Workforce
Investment Act passes with Section 511 (described below) intact, we may well
be on our way back to the broom shop or, perhaps worse, be well on our way
to being paid a pittance for competitive jobs that others receive full
remuneration for.

 

Per the message below, Senator Patty Murray is on the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Her DC Office number is
(202) 224-2621. I urge *all* of us to call her office ASAP to urge her to
vote to remove Section 511 of the WIA reauthorization from the bill.

 

To the barricades.

 

Michael Freeman, President

National Federation of the Blind of Washington

 

 

From: nfbnet-master-list-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbnet-master-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lewis, Anil (by
way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 5:07 PM
To: nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-master-list] Legislative Alert Subminimum wage
Importance: High

 

Dear Fellow Federationists:
 
I am writing to inform you that a principle tenet of our organization is
being threatened.  We are actively developing legislation that will work
toward the repeal of Regulation 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA).  Meanwhile, the proposed language in Title V of the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization, specifically Section 511 of the
Rehabilitation Act, threatens to send us backward in our struggle for full
participation and competitive employment at competitive wages.  
 
Most of us are aware that in 1938, when every other employee in America was
being guaranteed the workforce protection of a federal minimum wage through
the passage of the FLSA, Section 14(c) of this act denied the blind and
other workers with disabilities this same protection by allowing for the
payment of subminimum wages.  Since our founding in 1940, the National
Federation of the Blind has fought against the erroneous misconception that
blind people cannot be productive employees, and we have made significant
strides toward a correct understanding of the true capacity of the blind.
Contrarily, the proposed language found in Section 511 of the Rehabilitation
Act is a tacit endorsement of Section 14(c) of the FLSA and its antiquated
contention that people with disabilities cannot be competitively employed.  
 
If passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, language in
Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act will create a link between the
Rehabilitation Act and Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act that
has never before existed.  This will create legislation with a conflict
between the philosophy of capacity for competitive employment set by the
Rehabilitation Act, and the philosophy of incapacity toward subminimum wages
set by Section 14(c) of the FLSA, setting the stage for more workers with
disabilities to be inappropriately steered toward sheltered employment and a
life of low expectations rewarded with subminimum wages.  
 
The following list contains the names of members of the Senate HELP
committee.  If your Senator is a member of the committee, please call
his/her office to respectfully express your adamant objection to linking
subminimum wage to the Rehabilitation Act, and to insist that Section 511 of
the Rehabilitation Act be removed from the bill.  If your Senator is not a
member of the HELP committee, call the committee chair (Senator Tom Harkin)
and the ranking member (Senator Michael Enzi) to register your objection.  
 
Please share this information with friends and family and encourage them to
assist us with this effort.  Please call or e-mail me with any questions,
and to keep me posted on your progress.  
 
Sincerely, 
 
Anil Lewis
Director of Strategic Communications
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Telephone:  (410) 659-9314, extension 2374
E-mail: alewis at nfb.org
 
Senator
State
Telephone
Senator Lamar Alexander 
Tennessee 
(202) 224-4944
Senator Michael F. Bennet 
Colorado
(202) 224-5852
Senator Jeff Bingaman 
New Mexico
(202) 224-5521
Senator Richard Blumenthal 
Connecticut 
(202) 224-2823
Senator Richard Burr 
North Carolina
(202) 224-3154
Senator Robert Casey, Jr. 
Pennsylvania
(202) 224-6324
Senator Mike Enzi 
Wyoming
(202) 224-3424
Senator Al Franken 
Minnesota
(202) 224-5641
Senator Kay R. Hagan 
North Carolina
(202) 224-6342
Senator Tom Harkin 
Iowa
(202) 224-3254
Senator Orrin G. Hatch 
Utah 
(202) 224-5251
Senator Johnny Isakson 
Georgia
(202) 224-3643
Senator Mark Steven Kirk 
Illinois 
(202) 224-2854
Senator John McCain 
Arizona
(202) 224-2235
Senator Jeff Merkley 
Oregon
(202) 224-3753
Senator Barbara A. Mikulski 
Maryland
(202) 224-4654
Senator Lisa Murkowski 
Alaska
(202) 224-6665
Senator Patty Murray 
Washington
(202) 224-2621
Senator Rand Paul 
Kentucky
(202) 224-4343
Senator Pat Roberts 
Kansas
(202) 224-4774
Senator Bernard Sanders 
Vermont
(202) 224-5141
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse 
Rhode Island
(202) 224-2921
 
 

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