Begin forwarded message:

> got this from a list I'm on
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> Petition to Support Fair Wages
> for Workers with Disabilities
> 
> www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition<http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition>
> 
> We, the undersigned, are Americans with disabilities who are adversely
> affected by subminimum wage payments to workers with disabilities;
> representatives of organizations made up of, and working on behalf of,
> Americans with disabilities; friends and family members of individuals who
> have disabilities; and other concerned citizens who believe in fairness and
> equality.  We all speak in support of the repeal of Section 14(c) of the
> Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which authorizes Special Wage Certificates
> that permit employers to pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages,
> some as low as 3 cents per hour.
> 
> We reject the low expectations for, the false view of the true capacity of,
> and the misguided compassion used to justify this discrimination against
> workers with disabilities.  This provision has existed for over seventy
> years, and rather than creating real employment opportunities for workers
> with disabilities, it has relegated hundreds of thousands of people with
> disabilities to segregated, subminimum wage work environments, perpetuated
> the misconception that workers with disabilities do not have the capacity
> for productive employment, and masked the need for further development and
> implementation of innovative employment strategies for the competitive
> integrated employment of people with disabilities.
> We all believe that the future prospects for workers with disabilities are
> limited only by the spirit, ambition, and imagination of Americans with
> disabilities, and by the willingness of society to expand and implement
> enlightened policies that will help them succeed.  We adamantly assert that
> as long as workers with disabilities are denied the same workforce
> protections as every other American citizen, and the solution to the
> employment dilemma of workers with disabilities is thought to be their
> continued segregation in subminimum-wage work environments, our society will
> never truly implement the innovative employment strategies that empower
> workers with disabilities to fully participate in the workforce.
> For these reasons, we, the undersigned, urge the repeal of Section 14(c) of
> the Fair Labor Standards Act in order to abolish the unfair, discriminatory,
> immoral practice of paying workers with disabilities subminimum wages; to
> reverse over seventy years of mistaken institutionalized thinking about the
> employment capacity of people with disabilities; and to incentivize the
> development, implementation, and use of innovative strategies for their
> competitive, integrated employment.
> 
> To sign the petition, visit
> www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition<http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages-petition>
>