Goodwill Paying as Little as $1.44 an Hour to disabled - Boycott called for by National Federation of the Blind | June 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release Date: Thursday, June 7, 2012.Category: National.Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen@nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind Urges Boycott of Goodwill Industries

Condemns Practice of Paying Subminimum Wages to Workers with Disabilities

Baltimore, Maryland (June 7, 2012): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), one of the oldest and largest organizations of Americans with disabilities, today called for a boycott of Goodwill Industries International, Inc., the nonprofit manufacturer and retailer, for its payment of subminimum wages to many of its workers with disabilities. Freedom of information requests filed by the NFB confirmed that Goodwill Industries employees have been paid as low as $1.44 an hour. The NFB and over forty-five other organizations support legislation, the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act (H.R. 3086), which would phase out and then repeal the nearly seventy-five-year-old provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that permits special certificate holders to pay subminimum wages to workers with disabilities.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Goodwill Industries is one of the most well-known and lucrative charitable organizations in the United States, yet it chooses to pay its workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. While this practice is currently legal and many entities engage in it, many other nonprofit organizations have successfully transitioned to paying their employees the minimum wage or higher. That Goodwill Industries exploits many of its workers in this way is ironic, because its president and chief executive officer is blind. Goodwill cannot credibly argue that workers with disabilities are incapable of doing productive work while paying its blind CEO over half a million dollars a year. Goodwill should be ashamed of such blatant hypocrisy. We are calling upon all Americans to refuse to do business with Goodwill Industries, to refuse to make donations to the subminimum-wage exploiter, and to refuse to shop in its retail stores until it exercises true leadership and sound moral judgment by fairly compensating its workers with disabilities.”

For more information on this critically important issue, please visit www.nfb.org/fairwages.

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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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H.R. 3086 (ih) - Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2011:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3086ih


The following groups support the passage of H.R. 3086, the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2011:

ADAPT (formerly known as American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today)
ADAPT Montana
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind (AIDB)
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
American Council of the Blind (ACB)
APSE (formerly known as Association for Persons in Supported Employment)
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL)
Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD)
Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
Blind Industries and Services of Maryland (BISM)
Blindness: Learning In New Dimensions (BLIND), Inc.
California State Council on Developmental Disabilities
Center for People with Disabilities (CPWD)
Center for Self-Determination
Center for Social Capital
Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI), Atlanta
Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
Collaboration to Promote Self Determination (CPSD)
Colorado Center for the Blind
Council of Schools for the Blind (COSB)
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA)
Houston Center for Independent Living
Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco
Jewish Guild for the Blind
Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Little People of America (LPA)
Louisiana Center for the Blind
National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR)
National Council of State Agencies for the Blind (NCSAB)
National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)
National Disability Institute (NDI)
National Disability Leadership Alliance (NDLA)
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)
National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC)
National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
National Fragile X Foundation (NFXF)
Not Dead Yet (NDY)
Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Texas Association of Centers for Independent Living (TACIL)
TASH
United Spinal Association
Xavier Society for the Blind

As of March 23, 2012