[Tn-talk] Online Fair Wages Petition

[Sheri Anderson]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:41:22 +0000
Subject: [Chapter-presidents] Online Fair Wages Petition
To:

All:

The online Fair Wages petition is going better than we anticipated.
We could reach 1,000 signatures today.  Please circulate the following
to your networks.

Current labor laws unjustly prohibit workers with disabilities from
reaching their full socioeconomic potential

Written in 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
discriminates against people with disabilities, by allowing the
Secretary of Labor to grant special wage certificates to employers,
permitting them to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum
wage.  Despite enlightened civil rights legislation prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of disability, this antiquated provision
is still being practiced, with some disabled workers making only 3
cents an hour.

Click here to sign the petition to stop this
discrimination<http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition>

The twisted merit of the subminimum wage model is that it is a cash
cow for the employer. The subminimum wage employers receive taxpayer
and philanthropic dollars because the public believes they are
providing training and employment for people with disabilities.
Instead, The executives use these substantial proceeds to compensate
themselves above industry rates on the backs of disabled workers they
pay pennies per hour.  In any other context, people raising their
standard of life while significantly limiting the potential of others
to fully participate in society would be obvious exploitation.

Click here to sign the petition to stop this
exploitation<http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition>

The discrimination persists because of the Misconceptions that Section 14(c) is:


*        ...a compassionate offering of meaningful work.  Subminimum
wage work is not true employment.  The entities that engage in this
practice are not employers. They are "day Custody" centers for people
with disabilities, offering days filled only with repetitive drudgery
for sometimes third-world wages, leading their workers toward learned
incapacity and greater dependence on social programs.


*        ...an employment training tool for disabled workers. Less
than 5% of workers with disabilities in subminimum wage workshops will
transition into competitive integrated work environments.  In fact,
data shows that they must unlearn the skills they acquire in a
subminimum wage workshop in order to obtain meaningful employment.
Therefore, Section 14(c) perpetuates on-going underemployment.


*        ...a controversial issue amongst the disability community.
Over 50 disability-related organizations support the repeal of section
14(c) of the FLSA, and many former subminimum wage employers have
abandoned the use of the Special Wage Certificate without terminating
anyone.  Only those entities profiting on this exploitive practice
refuse to acknowledge that it is discrimination.


*        ...a place for those too significantly disabled to go.
Imprisoning workers with disabilities in adult daycare environments
keeps them from acquiring the necessary training and opportunity to
identify the skills or job that could lead to their competitive,
integrated employment at the federal minimum wage or higher.

Click here to sign the petition to stop this
discrimination<http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition>

Anil

Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A.
Director of Advocacy and Policy

"Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities"
http://www.nfb.org/fairwages
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland   21230
(410) 659-9314 ext. 2374 (Voice)
(410) 685-5653 (FAX)
Email: alewis at nfb.org
Web: www.nfb.org
twitter: @anillife