[blindkid] Fwd: Re: NFB: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] NBC Rock Center: Some disabled workers paid just pennies an hour - and it's l egal

[Carol Castellano]

>>Forwarding this info.

Carol

>>
>>Greetings to all!
>>
>>Please share the following to all family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
>>The show airs tonight at 10 pm on NBC.
>>The message follows.
>>
>>Some disabled workers paid just pennies an hour – and it's legal
>>By Anna Schecter, Producer, NBC News
>>One of the nation's best-known charities is 
>>paying disabled workers as little as 22 cents 
>>an hour, thanks to a 75-year-old legal loophole 
>>that critics say needs to be closed.
>>
>>Goodwill Industries, a multibillion-dollar 
>>company whose executives make six-figure 
>>salaries, is among the nonprofit groups 
>>permitted to pay thousands of disabled workers 
>>far less than minimum wage because of a federal 
>>law known as Section 14 (c). Labor Department 
>>records show that some Goodwill workers in 
>>Pennsylvania earned wages as low as 22, 38 and 41 cents per hour in 2011.
>>
>>"If they really do pay the CEO of Goodwill 
>>three-quarters of a million dollars, they 
>>certainly can pay me more than they're paying," 
>>said Harold Leigland, who is legally blind and 
>>hangs clothes at a Goodwill in Great Falls, Montana for less than minimum wage.
>>
>>
>>"It's a question of civil rights," added his 
>>wife, Sheila, blind from birth, who quit her 
>>job at the same Goodwill store when her already 
>>low wage was cut further. "I feel like a 
>>second-class citizen. And I hate it." Section 
>>14 (c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which 
>>was passed in 1938, allows employers to obtain 
>><http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs39.pdf>special 
>>minimum wage certificates from the Department 
>>of Labor. The certificates give employers the 
>>right to pay disabled workers according to 
>>their abilities, with no bottom limit to the wage.
>>
>>
>>
>>Most, 
>><http://www.dol.gov/whd/specialemployment/BusinessCertList.htm>but 
>>not all, special wage certificates are held by 
>>nonprofit organizations like Goodwill that then 
>>set up their own so-called "sheltered 
>>workshops" for disabled employees, where 
>>employees typically perform manual tasks like hanging clothes.
>>
>>
>>
>>The non-profit certificate holders can also 
>>place employees in outside, for-profit 
>>workplaces including restaurants, retail 
>>stores, hospitals and even Internal Revenue 
>>Service centers. Between the sheltered 
>>workshops and the outside businesses, more than 
>>216,000 workers are eligible to earn less than 
>>minimum wage because of Section 14 (c), though 
>>many end up earning the full federal minimum wage of $7.25.
>>Description: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo
>>
>>
>>NBC News
>>
>>Harold Leigland, who is blind, with his guide 
>>dog on the bus during his morning commute to 
>>the Goodwill facility in Great Falls, Montana, where he works hanging clothing.
>>
>>When a non-profit provides Section 14 (c) 
>>workers to an outside business, it sets the 
>>salary and pays the wages. For example, the 
>>Helen Keller National Center, a New York school 
>>for the blind and deaf, has a special wage 
>>certificate and has placed students in a 
>>Westbury, N.Y., Applebee's franchise. The 
>>employees' pay ranged from $3.97 per hour to 
>>$5.96 per hour in 2010. The franchise told NBC 
>>News it has also hired workers at minimum wage 
>>from Helen Keller. A spokesperson for 
>>Applebee's declined to comment on Section 14 (c).
>>
>>
>>
>>Helen Keller also placed several students at a 
>>Barnes & Noble bookstore in Manhasset, N.Y., in 
>>2010, where they earned $3.80 and $4.85 an 
>>hour. A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman defended the 
>>Section 14 (c) program as providing jobs to 
>>"people who would otherwise not have [the opportunity to work]."
>>
>>
>>
>>Most Section 14 (c) workers are employed 
>>directly by nonprofits. In 2001, the most 
>>recent year for which numbers are available, 
>>the GAO estimated that more than 90 percent of 
>>Section 14 (c) workers were employed at nonprofit work centers.
>>
>>Critics of Section 14 (c) have focused much of 
>>their ire on the nonprofits, where wages can be 
>>just pennies an hour even as some of the groups 
>>receive funding from the government. At one 
>>workplace in Florida run by a nonprofit, some 
>>employees earned one cent per hour in 2011.
>>
>>
>>
>>"People are profiting from exploiting disabled 
>>workers," said Ari Ne'eman, president of the 
>>Autistic Self Advocacy Network. "It is clearly 
>>and unquestionably exploitation."
>>
>>
>>
>>Defenders of Section 14 (c) say that without 
>>it, disabled workers would have few options. A 
>>Department of Labor spokesperson said in a 
>>statement to NBC News that Section 14 (c) 
>>"provides workers with disabilities the 
>>opportunity to be given meaningful work and receive an income."
>>
>>
>>
>>Terry Farmer, CEO of ACCSES, a trade group that 
>>calls itself the "voice of disability service 
>>providers," said scrapping the provision could 
>>"force [disabled workers] to stay at home," 
>>enter rehabilitation, "or otherwise engage in 
>>unproductive and unsatisfactory activities."
>>
>>
>>
>>Harold Leigland, however, said he feels that 
>>Goodwill can pay him a low wage because the 
>>company knows he has few other places to go. 
>>"We are trapped," he said. "Everybody who works at Goodwill is trapped."
>>
>>
>>
>>Leigland, a 66-year-old former massage 
>>therapist with a college degree, currently earns $5.46 per hour in Great Falls.
>>
>>His wages have risen and fallen based on 
>><http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/14c/18c4.htm>"time 
>>studies," the method nonprofits use to 
>>calculate the salaries of Section 14 (c) 
>>workers. Staff members use a stopwatch to 
>>determine how long it takes a disabled worker 
>>to complete a task. That time is compared with 
>>how long it would take a person without a 
>>disability to do the same task. The nonprofit 
>>then uses a formula to calculate a salary, 
>>which may be equal to or less than minimum 
>>wage. The tests are repeated every six months.
>>Description: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo
>>
>>
>>NBC News
>>
>>Harold Leigland works at the Goodwill facility 
>>in Great Falls, Montana, where he earns $5.46 an hour.
>>
>>Leigland's pay has been higher than $5.46, but 
>>it has also dropped down to $4.37 per hour, based on the time-study results.
>>He said he believes Goodwill makes the time 
>>studies harder when they want his wage to be lower.
>>
>>"Sometimes the test is easier than others. It 
>>depends on if, as near as I can figure, they 
>>want your wage to go up or down. It's that simple," he said.
>>
>>
>>
>>His wife, Sheila, 58, spent four years hanging 
>>clothes at the Great Falls Goodwill for about 
>>$3.50 an hour. She said the time study was one 
>>of the most degrading and stressful parts about 
>>her job. "You never know how it's going to come 
>>out. It stressed me out a lot," she said.
>>
>>
>>
>>She quit last summer when she returned to work 
>>after knee surgery and found that her wage had 
>>been lowered to $2.75 per hour, a training rate.
>>
>>
>>
>>"At $2.75 it would barely cover my cost of 
>>getting to work. I wouldn't make any money," she said.
>>
>>
>>
>>Harold said he believes Goodwill can afford to 
>>pay him minimum wage, based on the salaries 
>>paid to Goodwill executives. While according to 
>>the company's own figures about 4,000 of the 
>>30,000 disabled workers Goodwill employs at 69 
>>franchises are currently paid below minimum 
>>wage, salaries for the CEOs of those franchises 
>>that hold special minimum wage certificates totaled almost $20 million in 2011.
>>
>>
>>
>>In 2011 the CEO of Goodwill Industries of 
>>Southern California took home $1.1 million in 
>>salary and deferred compensation. His 
>>counterpart in Portland, Oregon, made more than 
>>$500,000. Salaries for CEOs of the roughly 150 
>>Goodwill franchises across America total more than $30 million.
>>
>>
>>
>>Goodwill International CEO Jim Gibbons, who was 
>>awarded $729,000 in salary and deferred 
>>compensation in 2011, defended the executive pay.
>>
>>
>>
>>"These leaders are having a great impact in 
>>terms of new solutions, in terms of innovation, 
>>and in terms of job creation," he said.
>>
>>Gibbons also defended time studies, and the 
>>whole Section 14 (c) approach. He said that for 
>>many people who make less than minimum wage, 
>>the experience of work is more important than the pay.
>>
>>
>>
>>"It's typically not about their livelihood. 
>>It's about their fulfillment. It's about being 
>>a part of something. And it's probably a small 
>>part of their overall program," he said.
>>
>>
>>
>>And Goodwill and the organizations that run the 
>>sheltered workshops are not alone in their 
>>support for Section 14 (c). In many cases, the 
>>families of the workers who have severe 
>>disabilities say their loved ones enjoy the 
>>work experience, enjoy getting a paycheck, and the amount is of no consequence.
>>Description: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo
>>
>>
>>NBC News
>>
>>Sheila Leigland, who is blind, with her guide 
>>dog. She quit her job at Goodwill in Great 
>>Falls, Montana, after her hourly wage was lowered to $2.75.
>>
>>"I feel really good about it. I don't have to 
>>worry so much about him," said Fran Davidson, 
>>whose son Jeremy has worked at Goodwill in 
>>Great Falls, Montana, for more than a decade. 
>>"I know he's not getting picked on, and he's in 
>>a safe place. He enjoys what he's doing, and 
>>he's happy, and that's what we like for our 
>>kids." Jeremy started out working for a 
>>sub-minimum wage but did well on his last time 
>>study and is currently earning $7.80 an hour, Montana's minimum wage.
>>
>>
>>
>>But foes of Section 14 (c) have hopes for a new 
>>bill that's now before Congress that would 
>>repeal Section 14 (c) and make sub-minimum wages illegal across the board.
>>
>>
>>
>>"Meaningful work deserves fair pay," the 
>>sponsor of the bill, Rep. Gregg Harper, 
>>R.-Miss., told NBC News. "This dated provision 
>>unjustly prohibits workers with disabilities 
>>from reaching their full potential."
>>
>>
>>
>>The bill is opposed by trade associations for 
>>the employers of the disabled, and past 
>>attempts to change the law have failed. But 
>>Marc Maurer, president of the National 
>>Federation of the Blind and a foe of the 
>>sheltered workshop system, is cautiously 
>>optimistic that this time the bill will pass, 
>>and end what he called a "two-tiered system."
>>
>>
>>
>>That system, explained Maurer, says "'Americans 
>>who have disabilities aren't as valuable as 
>>other people,' and that's wrong. These folks 
>>have value. We should recognize that value."
>>
>>Monica Alba contributed to this report.
>>
>>Video: 
>><http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/52257275/>http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/52257275/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A.
>>
>>“Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities”
>><http://www.nfb.org/fairwages>http://www.nfb.org/fairwages
>>Work: 410-659-9314 ext. 2374
>>Twitter: @anillife
>>
>>
>>Forwarded by:
>>
>>Brian A. Mackey
>>
>>Brian A. Mackey
>>Mackey Enterprises LLC
>>National Federation of the Blind of NJ, Secretary
>>609-953-6988
>><mailto:bmackey88 at gmail.com>bmackey88 at gmail.com
>>
>>“Happy are those who dream dreams and are 
>>willing to pay the price to make those dreams come true.”
>>         - Vince Papale
>>
>>
>
>Carol Castellano
>Parents of Blind Children-NJ
>Director of Programs
>National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>973-377-0976
>carol_castellano at verizon.net
>www.blindchildren.org
>www.nfb.org/parents-and-teachers