[nfb-talk] Fw: Contacting the ABC

Heather Field missheather at comcast.net
Tue Mar 6 17:31:51 UTC 2012


Whether or not Dr. Maurer did speak in Australia, the Australian system is 
markedly different. therefore,  the letter is in no way relevant except as a 
document related to antiquated, discriminatory laws, still oppressing the 
disabled, in the country that keeps telling the world that it is the most 
advanced country on earth.
Heather
-----Original Message----- 
From: Mike Freeman
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 9:59 PM
To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Contacting the ABC

Didn't' Dr. Maurer speak Down Under last year?

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Cindy Handel
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 5:24 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Contacting the ABC

Ray, he either doesn't get that Australia isn't in the United States, or he
actually thinks that anything Marc Maurer says will make a difference to
someone there.  I'm sure that they have no idea who Marc Maurer is, and they

probably don't care...why should they.

Cindy

-----Original Message----- 
From: Ray Foret Jr
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 7:41 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Contacting the ABC

Oh come on; The Australian Broadcasting company?


Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!

Now a very proud and happy Mac user!!!

Skype name:
barefootedray

Facebook:
facebook.com/ray.foretjr.1



On Mar 5, 2012, at 5:31 PM, Kenneth Chrane wrote:

> Hi Ray, may be some body will broadcast the information on the air.
>
> May be I will receive an answer from them.
>
> Ken Chrane
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray Foret Jr" <rforetjr at att.net>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 10:11 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Contacting the ABC
>
>
>> The Australian Broadcasting company?  Did you not realize that this is
>> whom you were contacting?  I know this because in the box which
>> designates "Last name" they say, "sir name".  What carelessness.
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
>>
>> Now a very proud and happy Mac user!!!
>>
>> Skype name:
>> barefootedray
>>
>> Facebook:
>> facebook.com/ray.foretjr.1
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 5, 2012, at 2:18 AM, Kenneth Chrane wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Australian Broadcasting Corporation"

>>> <anonymous at your.abc.net.au>
>>> To: <kenneth.chrane at verizon.net>
>>> Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2012 10:00 PM
>>> Subject: Contacting the ABC
>>>
>>>
>>>> Dear Kenneth Chrane
>>>>
>>>> This email provides a copy of your comments recently submitted to the
>>>> ABC via the online email form located on this webpage :
>>>> http://abc.net.au/contact.
>>>>
>>>> Yours sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs
>>>>
>>>> **IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do not reply to this message.  You are welcome

>>>> to submit any further comments you may have using the form available
>>>> here - http://abc.net.au/contact **
>>>>
>>>> __________________________________
>>>>
>>>> First name: Kenneth
>>>> Surname: Chrane
>>>> Email: kenneth.chrane at verizon.net
>>>>
>>>> Location: O/S
>>>> Response Required: true
>>>> Program: News On The Hour
>>>> Program Date: March 5, 2012
>>>> ABC Service\Network: ABC News 24
>>>> ABC Recipient: ABC News & Current Affairs
>>>> Subject: Letter From President Marc Maurer:
>>>> Your Comments:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> February 23, 2012
>>>>
>>>> Dear United States Representative:
>>>>
>>>> I am writing to you in support of H.R. 3086, the Fair Wages for Workers

>>>> with Disabilities Act of 2011.  If you are already one of the
>>>> cosponsors of this bill, I thank you.  If you have not signed on as a
>>>> cosponsor, I urge you to do so as quickly as you can.  I am also
>>>> writing to you representing disabled Americans who are affected by
>>>> subminimum wage payments who want this bill to pass.  Furthermore, I am

>>>> writing to you to sound the alarm against those who say that they know
>>>> better what to do for the disabled than disabled Americans themselves.
>>>> They will tell you that disabled Americans cannot speak for themselves
>>>> and that they have taken on "this burden."  They are trying to deny us
>>>> our own voice in Congress and we ask you to listen to the people, not
>>>> to the self-appointed so-called spokesmen of the people.
>>>>
>>>> The National Federation of the Blind and the growing list of over forty

>>>> other organizations of disabled Americans that support this legislation

>>>> are well aware that those of you who are cosponsoring this legislation
>>>> or considering doing so are receiving considerable pressure from
>>>> representatives of sheltered workshops and others holding special wage
>>>> certificates that allow them to pay less than the federal minimum wage.

>>>> You are being told that the workers who receive subminimum wages in the

>>>> sheltered workshop system have nowhere else to go, and that their lives

>>>> would be destroyed by H.R. 3086.  Those of you from Missouri, in fact,
>>>> may have received a piece of correspondence that asks, "Where will
>>>> Sammy, Patti, and Becky go when you eliminate their jobs?"  This flyer
>>>> also contains quotes from parents, siblings, and caregivers of
>>>> sheltered workshop employees, wondering what H.R. 3086 will mean for
>>>> their loved ones.
>>>>
>>>> Whatever the motives of the people behind it, the correspondence is
>>>> based on outdated ideas about the capacity of workers with disabilities

>>>> and a misguided commitment to an antiquated model of service to such
>>>> workers. Rather than participating in a constructive dialogue about
>>>> what life will be like for workers with disabilities, once the
>>>> subminimum wage exemption is phased out in three years as required by
>>>> H.R. 3086, the workshops choose to circulate correspondence meant to
>>>> pull on your heartstrings, to evoke your pity, and to promote low
>>>> expectations.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> United States Representative
>>>> February 23, 2012
>>>> Page two
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The argument of the sheltered workshops is that some people,
>>>> particularly those with severe developmental disabilities, are simply
>>>> unfit for competitive employment.
>>>> This is simply wrong.  To continue this practice when proven employment

>>>> strategies exist is inexcusable.
>>>>
>>>> We are also told that these individuals must be given a choice.  We are

>>>> all for freedom of choice, but true freedom of choice can only come
>>>> with unbiased and accurate information.  Do Sammy, Patti, and Becky
>>>> know that people like them are in fact working in competitive jobs?  Do

>>>> they know that services like supported employment are already available

>>>> to help them acquire and keep such jobs?  Do their parents, guardians,
>>>> and loved ones know this?  My experience tells me that they do not.
>>>> Rather, they have far more likely been told by sheltered workshop
>>>> staff-who all too often share society's low expectations for disabled
>>>> people and have an obvious conflict of interest-that Sammy, Patti, and
>>>> Becky will never achieve competitive employment and that the sheltered
>>>> workshop is the best they can hope for.  In short, what they have been
>>>> told is neither accurate nor unbiased.
>>>>
>>>> Despite the manipulative tone of the correspondence, however, it is
>>>> fair enough to ask what will happen to Sammy, Patti, and Becky and
>>>> others like them if this bill passes.  I believe that the answer to
>>>> this question is limited only by the spirit, ambition, and imagination
>>>> of disabled workers themselves, and by our willingness as a society to
>>>> work hard to help them succeed in their goals.  I believe that disabled

>>>> workers can do far better than receiving pennies per hour.  Under this
>>>> bill, they will either earn real wages in the workshops that currently
>>>> employ them, or they will receive the training and support that they
>>>> need to obtain competitive employment somewhere else.  Imagine for a
>>>> moment that all of the government and philanthropic resources that are
>>>> currently supporting the sheltered workshop system were redirected to
>>>> finding real employment opportunities for people with disabilities.  If

>>>> they were, I suspect that solutions as yet undreamt of would emerge to
>>>> help such
>>>> individuals succeed in competitive employment situations.
>>>>
>>>> The sheltered workshop industry has existed for over seventy years.
>>>> Many argue that it is an acceptable status quo, which must not be
>>>> changed.  We reject this formulation.  Even if you believe that those
>>>> of us advocating against subminimum wages do not have all the answers,
>>>> this is no excuse for allowing the system to continue.  The current
>>>> practice of paying subminimum wages is unfair, discriminatory, and
>>>> immoral, and no amount of hand-wringing about what may follow it can
>>>> change that. Please do not simply let inertia direct our course.  We
>>>> are urging you and other willing partners, including any from the
>>>> sheltered workshop industry, to work with us to find real solutions for

>>>> people like Sammy, Patti, and Becky, rather than shrugging your
>>>>
>>>> United States Representative
>>>> February 23, 2012
>>>> Page three
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> shoulders and saying that the exploitation must continue because we as
>>>> a society will not expend the effort to come up with anything better.
>>>>
>>>> There was a time in our nation's history when African-Americans were
>>>> believed to have limited capacity and were fit only for slave labor on
>>>> plantations.  There was a time when women were thought capable only of
>>>> maintaining the family home, and thus were not even permitted to vote.
>>>> Fortunately we realized as a nation that it was bigotry and low
>>>> expectations that were defining the roles of African-Americans and
>>>> women rather than their true capabilities.  We realized, albeit
>>>> belatedly, that America would be a better nation if the true capacities

>>>> of these citizens were unleashed.  Americans with disabilities are now
>>>> calling upon our fellow citizens to realize that the soft bigotry of
>>>> low expectations is condemning workers with disabilities to near-slave
>>>> labor, and that the system that arises from these low expectations must

>>>> be abolished.
>>>>
>>>> H.R. 3086 allows for a grace period of three years before sheltered
>>>> workshops and other nonprofit employers currently holding special wage
>>>> certificates must begin to pay their workers at least the federal
>>>> minimum wage.  This is plenty of time for sheltered workshops to study
>>>> the business models of similar entities that are already paying their
>>>> employees competitive wages and make adjustments to their own policies
>>>> and practices.  Meanwhile, policy makers can redirect resources to
>>>> enhance programs like supported employment, and create new solutions,
>>>> to help workers with disabilities transition to real work for real
>>>> wages.
>>>>
>>>> As for freedom of choice: I am a person with a disability.  I have been

>>>> blind all of my life.  I know the pain and despair that comes with low
>>>> expectations and prejudice.  Fortunately, I was given the opportunity
>>>> to make real choices about my life and career, and to experience the
>>>> joy of the accomplishments that can only come through full and equal
>>>> participation in society.  I want Sammy, Patti, and Becky to have the
>>>> choices that I had.  If workers with disabilities truly want to stay in

>>>> the sheltered workshop that currently employs them, or a facility like
>>>> it, then no one will prohibit them from doing so.  However, if H.R.
>>>> 3086 is enacted, wherever they choose to work, they will receive real
>>>> wages that allow them to live fuller lives.  They will know the
>>>> satisfaction of receiving the equal pay for equal work that they
>>>> deserve, in addition to any satisfaction that they may receive from
>>>> getting out of the house and being among their friends.  They will no
>>>> longer be dependent upon
>> the
>>>> resources of their loved ones or on public assistance in order to buy
>>>> the things they need.  They will have disposable income to spend in the

>>>> community, thereby contributing to our society and its economy.  They
>>>> will go from a subsistent existence to one in which they can enjoy
>>>> taking in a movie with their friends, an occasional restaurant meal,
>>>> and all of the other small pleasures of life that other American
>>>> workers take for granted.  They will become free people with real
>>>> choices, not virtual slaves with false ones.
>>>>
>>>> United States Representative
>>>> February 23, 2012
>>>> Page four
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On behalf of the National Federation of the Blind, the over forty other

>>>> organizations that support this bill, and the millions of disabled
>>>> people we represent, we urge you to join us in our effort to change the

>>>> paradigm of low expectations and kindly meant but devastating
>>>> exploitation that has too long dominated the lives of over three
>>>> hundred thousand Americans with disabilities.  We ask you to express
>>>> the courage to support H.R. 3086 and the creativity to seek solutions
>>>> that allow Americans with disabilities to become productive citizens.
>>>> I thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Marc Maurer, President
>>>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -
>>>>
>>>> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>>>>
>>>> The information contained in this email and any attachment is
>>>> confidential and may contain legally privileged or copyright material.
>>>> It is intended only for the use of the addressee(s).  If you are not
>>>> the intended recipient of this email, you are not permitted to
>>>> disseminate, distribute or copy this email or any attachments.  If you
>>>> have received this message in error, please notify the sender
>>>> immediately and delete this email from your system.  The ABC does not
>>>> represent or warrant that this transmission is secure or virus free.
>>>> Before opening any attachment you should check for viruses. The ABC's
>>>> liability is limited to resupplying any email and attachments.
>>>
>>>
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