[NABS-L] Subminimum Wages in Your Student Body

[Justin Salisbury]

Aloha to the members and leaders of the National Association of Blind Students!

I am proud to announce the launch of the newest initiative of the Legislative Advocacy Committee. Every theme in this initiative is likely going to be familiar: writing, subminimum wages, and school newspapers.

As a proud Division of the National Federation of the Blind, part of our task is to carry the message of the Federation into the unique space that we occupy: the student bodies of high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities. We have unique opportunities to use our connections to student bodies to get them talking about subminimum wages for workers with disabilities. Maybe some of us will even succeed at building coalitions with student governments and campus organizations. This is already happening in Hawaii, and it is making a noticeable difference in the political scene.

The ask is simple. Please write and publish articles in school and university newspapers to inform your student bodies about the issue of subminimum wages for workers with disabilities. Here is an example of one that I wrote: "Workers with Disabilities Deserve Protections<http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/opinion/article_3bd4ad1e-2e60-11e9-ba0b-7b14afce5aed.html>." If you have room to mention the bill numbers to identify the federal bills, and state bills if your state has one, to end the payment of subminimum wages, that might help guide people to take action. Not every school has a newspaper, so, if you don't have one, I encourage you to write for a local newspaper that your student body might read.

As students, most of us often feel stressed when it comes to writing. We always have assignments and deadlines, and we don't always know what to write. This will be different, though. This is a topic that we already understand better than 99 percent of the students on our campus. School newspapers are always looking for interesting new content, and they always have a place where students like us can submit op-ed style articles, opinion pieces, guest columns, or letters to the editor. Please just take a few minutes to tell them all what's going on with subminimum wages. After all, our classmates are going to college to build their earning potential so that they can earn a real wage, too.

Once you've published in your school newspapers, I encourage you to remember that this is only a starting point. Publishing can be addicting, and you can continue to use your student brains and writing skills to keep publishing in more newspapers and magazines. The further our message carries, the stronger our movement will be.

Don't forget, you have tons of Federationists available to help. Our movement is 50,000 members strong, and we are all here to help each other. I am happy to be a resource to anyone who needs me, and I'm sure you hear the same from your local leaders, too.

Once you get these articles published, please share them on social media and spread the message even further! I would love to see these articles posted on the NABS-L mailing list.

Let's go build the Federation!

Justin M. Hideaki Salisbury
he/him/his
Chair | Legislative Advocacy Committee
Board Member | National Association of Blind Students
   A proud division of the National Federation of the Blind
(808) 797-8606
president at alumni.ecu.edu | www.nabslink.org<http://www.nabslink.org/>