[Nfbnet-members-list] More on Goodwill Protests

David Andrews dandrews at visi.com
Fri Aug 24 12:58:03 UTC 2012


>
>Dear fellow Federationists:
>As we have been preparing for our informational protests on 
>Saturday, and as Goodwill affiliates have become aware of the 
>protests, many of us have received communications from Goodwill, 
>either directly or indirectly, attempting to counter our arguments 
>about subminimum wage. We thought we would make you aware of these 
>talking points and suggest some responses. Goodwill's messages 
>roughly fall into three broad categories:
>
>1.       Goodwill's spokesmen have said that subminimum wage is one 
>of many tools that can create employment opportunities for people 
>with disabilities. The problem with this argument is that subminimum 
>wage is not an effective tool, as evidenced by the fact that almost 
>no one successfully transitions from sheltered subminimum wage 
>employment to competitive employment, nor are the skills obtained in 
>subminimum wage employment usually transferrable to competitive 
>work. No craftsman continues to use a broken tool to try to build 
>something; the tool is instead removed from the toolbox and replaced 
>with one that works. Goodwill cannot and does not build any 
>opportunities with the broken tool of subminimum wage employment.
>2.       Some Goodwill affiliates have said that the NFB is simply 
>lying, because that particular Goodwill affiliate does not pay 
>workers subminimum wages. According to a statement put out by 
>Goodwill's national office, 64 of its 165 affiliates pay subminimum 
>wages to workers with disabilities. The NFB applauds those 
>affiliates that do not pay subminimum wages, but this protest is not 
>primarily about any individual Goodwill affiliate or whether it does 
>or does not pay subminimum wages. The protests seek to bring 
>attention to Goodwill's national policy of supporting the exemption 
>contained in Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Goodwill 
>Industries International, Inc. clearly supports the payment of 
>subminimum wages, and even statements from the affiliates that are 
>not paying subminimum wages have generally supported Section 14(c). 
>Until Goodwill, at the national level, is willing to change its 
>policies and advocate for the repeal of Section 14(c), it is and 
>will remain a focus of our advocacy.
>
>3.       Some Goodwill affiliates have argued that subminimum wage 
>payment is a national issue about which Goodwill's national office 
>and the NFB's national office are in contact. This is simply not 
>true. The president and CEO of Goodwill had a single meeting with 
>Dr. Maurer, and that meeting only occurred after media attention was 
>brought to the payment of subminimum wages by Goodwill. At that 
>meeting, the Goodwill official made it clear that Goodwill's 
>policies would not change, and we have had no communication with 
>Goodwill's national office since that meeting occurred.
>The payment of subminimum wages is an unfair, discriminatory, and 
>immoral practice, and that fact cannot be obscured by any amount of 
>smooth-sounding rhetoric or deliberate obfuscation. As we march on 
>Saturday, and as we talk with our friends, family, and the media 
>about this subject, let us continue to focus on that fundamental fact.
>
>Sincerely:
>Chris Danielsen
>Director of Public Relations
>National Federation of the Blind
>





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