[Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: Governor David Paterson Urges Immediate Passage of Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act

[David Andrews]

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>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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>CONTACT:
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>Chris Danielsen
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>Director of Public Relations
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
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>(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
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><mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
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>Governor David Paterson Urges Immediate Passage
>  of Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act
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>New York City, New York (October 10, 2011): David A. Paterson, 55th 
>governor of the state of New York and a member of and consultant to 
>the National Federation of the Blind, today urged immediate passage 
>of the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act (H.R. 3086), 
>which was introduced in the United States House of Representatives last week.
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>Governor Paterson said: "It is long past time for the anachronistic 
>provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows workers with 
>disabilities to be paid less than the federal minimum wage to be 
>phased out.  As Samuel R. Bagenstos, former principal deputy 
>assistant attorney general for civil rights, has 
><http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/word/14c_Report_Sam_Bagenstos.doc>reported, 
>Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act does not encourage 
>mainstream employers to hire disabled workers; does not result in 
>the training of workers with disabilities to participate in 
>competitive employment; and does not even produce wages tied to the 
>alleged lower productivity of disabled workers, which is a myth in 
>any event.  This anachronism must be stricken from America's statute 
>books, and workers with disabilities must receive equal pay for 
>equal work and an equal opportunity to succeed."
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>About the National Federation of the Blind
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>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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