[Nfbnet-members-list] Blind Americans to Protest Subminimum Wages

Freeh, Jessica JFreeh at nfb.org
Wed Jul 20 18:32:54 UTC 2011


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

cdanielsen at nfb.org


Blind Americans to Protest Subminimum Wages




Members of National Federation of the Blind Plan
  Informational Pickets Across United States



Baltimore, Maryland (July 20, 2011): The National 
Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest 
nationwide organization of blind people, 
announced today that its members will conduct 
informational protests across the United States 
to raise awareness about the practice of paying 
wages below the federal minimum wage to Americans 
with disabilities.  The protests will take place 
at the primary district office locations of 
United States Senators serving on the Senate 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and 
Pensions (the HELP Committee).  The HELP 
Committee is currently considering 
legislation­the Workforce Investment Act­which 
would reauthorize the payment of subminimum wages to disabled workers.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: “Unequal pay for 
equal work on the basis of disability is unfair, 
discriminatory, and immoral.  The senators who 
serve on the HELP Committee must decide whether 
they stand for the outrageous exploitation of 
disabled workers, or for true equality for Americans with disabilities.”



On Wednesday, August 3, the HELP Committee is 
scheduled to vote on the Workforce Investment Act 
(WIA), which contains language reauthorizing the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.   The 
Rehabilitation Act is supposed to provide 
services to disabled Americans so that they can 
obtain competitive employment, but Title V, 
Section 511 of the proposed Rehabilitation Act 
language references Section 14(c) of the 1938 
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which allows 
certain entities holding special wage 
certificates to pay workers with disabilities 
less than the federal minimum wage.



For more information on the National Federation 
of the Blind and fair wages for workers with 
disabilities, please visit <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.





###





About the National Federation of the Blind



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.










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