Resolution Passed Unanimously at NFB National Convention

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@nfb.org

2,900 Delegates to National Federation of the Blind Convention
Unanimously Reject Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization

Bill Would Endorse Exploitation of Disabled Workers

Orlando, Florida (July 7, 2011): The National Federation of the Blind
at its national convention today voted unanimously to demand fair
wages for blind workers. The convention is being attended by 2,800
delegates from across the United States and Puerto Rico. On
Wednesday, July 13, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Committee will 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.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said: "Language endorsing the antiquated practice of paying the blind
and other workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum
wage, which is based on the fallacious premise that disabled workers
cannot be productive and do the same work as their non-disabled
peers, has no place in legislation designed to increase competitive
work opportunities for workers with disabilities. We believe that
this language, in effect if not by design, is a Trojan Horse
provision that will inevitably lead to the placing of workers with
disabilities in subminimum-wage sweatshops. We demand that the
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee either amend this
bill to remove Title V, Section 511, or simply vote down the entire bill."


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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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