[Jobs] industries for the blind

[Everett Gavel]

Ah, thanks for this.  Very nice.  Timely, indeed.  So
who is working on this particular resolution/effort?
Can specific names be named, as to who to contact to
see how to possibly help?  Or to give encouragement,
perhaps?  ;-)

Thanks, Michael, for posting this.

Regards,
Everett
www.everettgavel.com


----- Original Message ----- 
> I think the best and most recent exposition of NFB's
position re jwod is
> resolution 2006-06.  NIB hated it.
>
> RESOLUTION 2006-06
> Regarding Reform of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act
>
> WHEREAS, the program now known as the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Program
> was established during the Depression to create jobs
for blind people by
> allowing
> nonprofit agencies employing the blind to have
priority in sales of
> products to the federal government as long as 75
percent of the labor
> hours worked
> directly on production of products at the agency were
performed by blind
> persons; and
>
> WHEREAS, JWOD was amended in 1971 to add those with
other severe
> disabilities to the pool of workers and to add
services in addition to
> products bought
> by the federal government as items eligible for
priority, essentially
> the sole amendment in this nearly seventy-year-old
law; and
>
> WHEREAS, the priority and placement of contracts are
administered by two
> central nonprofits, National Industries for the Blind
(NIB) and NISH
> (formerly
> known as National Industries for the Severely
Handicapped), mirroring
> the two separate systems of sheltered workshops
employing the disabled,
> one for the
> blind and the other for those with other severe
disabilities; and
>
> WHEREAS, the two central nonprofits routinely decline
to provide
> information about their programs and the agencies to
which they allocate
> federal contracts
> on the ground that the central nonprofits are not
arms of the federal
> government but are autonomous, making assessment of
the program and
> accountability
> for the billions being spent almost impossible to
perform; and
>
> WHEREAS, the JWOD Program did for a time provide
somewhat better
> employment opportunities to blind and otherwise
severely disabled
> workers, but the law
> and practices under JWOD have not been fundamentally
changed in nearly
> seventy years and have become outdated, not
reflecting the growing
> complexity of
> federal procurement or vastly changed national
policies on disability
> programming, which makes JWOD essentially a program
from another era
> that urgently
> needs overhaul and oversight to eliminate abuses of
the system; and
>
> WHEREAS, some of these abuses include:
>
> (1) to meet the 75 percent-hours-of-direct labor
requirement, jobs may
> be split into three or four smaller jobs, generating
more hours spent by
> blind or
> disabled workers, whose productivity is thus
artificially capped;
>
> (2) the resulting jobs are often paid as piece rate
with the rates set
> so high that minimum wage can rarely be achieved;
>
> (3) blind and disabled workers are kept on the shop
floor and rarely
> advanced into management because they are more
valuable in direct-labor
> jobs to qualify
> for the priority than they are as managers;
>
> (4) the resulting jobs come and go, making employment
of blind and
> disabled workers intermittent and present only to
qualify for the
> federal priority; and
>
>
> (5) the definition of people with other severe
disabilities has been
> interpreted to be ridiculously elastic to qualify for
the priority; and
>
> WHEREAS, these practices have long been hidden behind
a blizzard of
> paperwork through which it is almost impossible to
learn the fundamental
> facts while
> program proponents routinely proclaim that they and
their programs are
> dedicated to helping the disabled, all of which
practices mean good jobs
> for some,
> but not for the blind and disabled workers; and
>
> WHEREAS, the United States Senate's Committee on
Health, Education,
> Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee) has recently
uncovered a whole
> second set of program
> abuses the Committee describes as "numerous examples
of excessive
> executive compensation, lavish perquisites, conflicts
of interest, and
> self-dealing"
> while media reports have fleshed out these findings
as shockingly high
> salaries, manipulation of corporate shells for the
personal benefit of
> able-bodied
> managers, and other financial shenanigans with the
money intended to
> benefit disabled workers; and
>
> WHEREAS, JWOD is now a program seriously out of
control, blending
> antiquated language with no accountability, resulting
in a situation in
> which $2 billion
> in sales to the federal government yields annual
average wages to the
> blind and disabled employees of $8,000, a scandal
recently exposed by
> the Senate
> HELP Committee, which demonstrates that the current
JWOD Program is both
> financially and morally bankrupt, allowing some of
its managers to grab
> millions
> of dollars while they pretend to care about the
disabled and receive the
> plaudits of their communities for being so
big-hearted; and
>
> WHEREAS, it is time to end these abuses of worker
opportunities and
> abuse of the American people's trust by amending JWOD
in the following
> ways:
>
> (1) remove the requirement that entities eligible for
the priority in
> sales to the federal government be nonprofits,
allowing both nonprofit
> and for-profit
> companies to establish eligibility;
>
> (2) require that all entities seeking the priority
agree specifically to
> the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act
and the Fair Labor
> Standards
> Act, both of which have been disputed in the past;
>
> (3) replace the 75 percent-direct-labor requirement
with a requirement
> that the entity qualify for priority sales only if at
least 51 percent
> of all compensation
> and benefits throughout the entire entity is paid to
blind or disabled
> workers, if at least 51 percent of all full-and
part-time jobs are held
> by blind
> or disabled workers, and if blind and disabled
workers receive actual
> preference for promotion within the entity as a
stated and implemented
> policy;
>
> (4) provide that the entire entity must meet the
51-percent rules,
> including all divisions, wholly-owned subsidiaries,
and any other
> corporate shell created
> to avoid application of the 51-percent rules;
>
> (5) prohibit buying products and services from
nonqualified companies
> and then selling exactly those same products or
services which have not
> been made
> or packaged by blind or disabled workers to the
federal government along
> with prohibiting qualifying entities from dealing
with other companies
> owned by
> officers, directors, top managers, or families of
these individuals;
>
> (6) eliminate the temptation to be creative with the
definition of
> "blindness" or "other disability," by defining as
blind or disabled
> solely those individuals
> who are currently receiving or are currently eligible
(except for
> resource tests) to receive Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) or Social
> Security Disability
> Insurance (SSDI) as a blind or otherwise disabled
individual, placing
> the determination of disability outside JWOD and
within a system that
> routinely makes
> such determinations for other unrelated and
compelling interests, the
> Social Security Administration;
>
> (7) eliminate the central nonprofits (NIB and NISH)
from JWOD and
> replace them with administration of the JWOD Program
by the Employment
> and Training Administration
> or another appropriate unit within the United States
Department of
> Labor, achieving coordination with other employment
programs and also
> vital public accountability;
>
> (8) reconstitute the Committee for Purchase from
People Who Are Blind or
> Severely Disabled, a small federal agency with
current JWOD oversight
> and administrative
> responsibilities, as a program oversight and policy
committee having a
> majority of public members, a majority of whom are
blind or otherwise
> severely disabled;
> and
>
> WHEREAS, these sweeping proposals are needed to end
the abuses of JWOD
> that have arisen within the program, including those
abuses recently
> brought to light
> by the HELP Committee, and also to synchronize the
original intent of
> JWOD with its daily effect on the lives of blind and
disabled people:
> Now, therefore,
>
>
> BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the
Blind in Convention
> assembled this seventh day of July, 2006, in the City
of Dallas, Texas,
> that this organization
> energetically seek congressional amendment of the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day
> Act to restore the original intent and mission of the
Act and to make
> real the original
> promise of good work, good-paying work, respectable
work for blind and
> disabled Americans by ending abuses that have arisen
in this
> seventy-year-old program,
> which can once again be progressive.
>
>