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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=dandrews@visi.com href="mailto:dandrews@visi.com">David Andrews</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org">nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, June 08, 2012 0:37</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind
Urges Boycott of Goodwill Industries</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size=4><B>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE<BR></B></FONT><BR><FONT face="Helvetica, Helvetica"
size=5> <BR></FONT><BR><B>CONTACT:<BR></B><BR>Chris
Danielsen<BR><BR>Director of Public Relations<BR><BR>National Federation of
the Blind<BR><FONT face="Helvetica, Helvetica">(410) 659-9314, extension
2330<BR>(410) 262-1281(Cell)<BR></FONT><A
href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</A><BR><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size=5> <BR></FONT><BR>
<DIV align=center>
<H1><FONT size=4><B>National Federation of the Blind Urges Boycott of Goodwill
Industries</B></FONT></H1><BR><BR></DIV><BR>
<DIV align=center>
<H2><B>Condemns Practice of Paying Subminimum Wages to Workers with
Disabilities</I></B></H2><BR><BR></DIV><FONT face="Helvetica, Helvetica"
size=5> <BR></FONT><BR><FONT face="Helvetica, Helvetica"><B>Baltimore,
Maryland (June 7, 2012):</B> <A href="http://www.nfb.org/">The National
Federation of the Blind</A> (NFB), one of the oldest and largest organizations
of Americans with disabilities, today called for a boycott of Goodwill
Industries International, Inc., the nonprofit manufacturer and retailer, for
its payment of subminimum wages to many of its workers with
disabilities. Freedom of information requests filed by the NFB confirmed
that Goodwill Industries employees have been paid as low as $1.44 an
hour. The NFB and <A
href="http://nfb.org/Images/nfb/documents/word/HR_3086_Support_List_2.doc">over
forty-five other organizations</A> support legislation, the <A
href="http://nfb.org/Images/nfb/SI/Fair%20Wages%20for%20Workers%202012.pdf">Fair
Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act</A> (H.R. 3086), which would phase out
and then repeal the nearly seventy-five-year-old provision of the Fair Labor
Standards Act that permits <A
href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/specialemployment/CRPlist.htm">special
certificate holders</A> to pay subminimum wages to workers with disabilities.
<BR></FONT><BR><FONT face="Helvetica, Helvetica"> <BR></FONT><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica">Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the <A
href="http://www.twitter.com/nfb_voice">National Federation of the Blind</A>,
said: “Goodwill Industries is one of the most well-known and lucrative
charitable organizations in the United States, yet it chooses to pay its
workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. While this
practice is currently legal and many entities engage in it, many other
nonprofit organizations have successfully transitioned to paying their
employees the minimum wage or higher. That Goodwill Industries exploits
many of its workers in this way is ironic, because its president and chief
executive officer is blind. Goodwill cannot credibly argue that workers
with disabilities are incapable of doing productive work while paying its
blind CEO over half a million dollars a year. Goodwill should be ashamed
of such blatant hypocrisy. We are calling upon all Americans to
refuse to do business with Goodwill Industries, to refuse to make donations to
the subminimum-wage exploiter, and to refuse to shop in its retail stores
until it exercises true leadership and sound moral judgment by fairly
compensating its workers with disabilities.”<BR></FONT><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica"> <BR></FONT><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica">For more information on this critically important
issue, please visit <A
href="http://www.nfb.org/fairwages">www.nfb.org/fairwages</A>.
<BR></FONT><BR><FONT face="Helvetica, Helvetica"> <BR></FONT><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica"> <BR></FONT><BR>
<DIV align=center><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica"><B>###<BR></B></FONT></DIV><BR>
<DIV align=center><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica"><B><BR></B></FONT> </DIV><BR><B> <BR></B><BR><B>About
the National Federation of the Blind<BR></B><BR><FONT
size=2> <BR></FONT><BR>With more than 50,000 members, the National
Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership
organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB
improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research,
technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.
It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the
nation's blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation
of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the
United States for the blind led by the blind.<BR><BR>
<DIV align=center><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica"><B><BR></B></FONT> </DIV><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size=5> <BR></FONT><BR><FONT
face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size=5> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
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