Fellow Federationists:
Below and attached you will find the press release we are
issuing this morning to Colorado media.
We need all hands on deck Saturday.
Please come to our Denver or Colorado springs locations to help
protest. We will have a bus leaving the
Colorado Center for the Blind at 9:15 a.m. to take us down to the Springs
site. Please contact Jessica Beecham, jbeecham@cocenter.org or 303 778-1130,
ext. 223, to let her know which location
you can attend.
See you Saturday!
Scott C. LaBarre, President
National Federation of the Blind of Colorado
**********
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Scott C. LaBarre
President
National Federation of the Blind of Colorado
(303) 504-5979 (office)
(303) 520-3584 (cell)
Coloradans with Disabilities to Protest Goodwill's
payment of Subminimum Wages
Protesters to Urge Boycott, Demand Fair Wages
Denver, Colorado (August 22, 2012): The National
Federation of the Blind (NFB), of Colorado, the state's oldest and largest
organization of the blind, announced today that it, along with affiliates of
the Federation all over the nation and other organizations of people with
disabilities, will conduct over eighty coordinated nationwide protests in front
of thrift stores operated by Goodwill Industries International, Inc., the
nonprofit manufacturer and retailer. NFB
Colorado will conduct two informational protests in front of the Goodwill
stores located at 21 S. Broadway, Denver and 2007 S. Circle Drive, Colorado
Springs, on Saturday, August 25th from
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The informational protests will raise awareness of Goodwill's practice
of paying subminimum wages to many of its workers with disabilities. Freedom of information requests filed by the
NFB confirmed that Goodwill Industries employees with disabilities have been
paid as low as $0.22 an hour. The NFB
and nearly fifty other organizations of people with disabilities including the
Colorado Cross Disability Coalition 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
charitable organizations in the United States, but most members of the general
public are unaware that Goodwill exploits people with disabilities. We are conducting informational protests to
make the public aware of this practice that, although sadly still legal, is unfair,
discriminatory, and immoral. Given its
lucrative retail operations and the fact that it can lavish half-a-million
dollars on the salary of its president and chief executive officer, Goodwill is
certainly in a position to stop exploiting its workers with disabilities. 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 all
of its workers with disabilities."
"Locally, we have called upon Goodwill organizations
in Colorado to abandon the unfair and immoral practice of paying subminimum
wages but they refuse,"
said Scott LaBarre, President of the National Federation
of the Blind of Colorado. In fact, both
Goodwill organizations in Colorado have confirmed that over 100 of its workers
with disabilities receive less than the minimum wage. In contrast, the two chief executives of
these organizations earn salaries and benefits of several hundred thousand
dollars each. "The CEO of the
Denver based Goodwill, Jesse Wolf, has met with us and agreed to engage in a
dialogue with the Federation to consider reforms to these antiquated wage
practices, but the CEO of Goodwill based in Colorado Springs has shockingly and
recklessly refused even to meet with us," commented LaBarre.
For a media conctact for the Denver protest, contact
James Gashel, Secretary of the National Federation of the Blind, at <mailto:jgashel@comcast.net>
jgashel@comcast.net and 720
295-7401. For a media contac at the
Colorado Springs protest, contact Scott LaBarre at <mailto:slabarre@labarrelaw.com>
slabarre@labarrelaw.com and 303
520-3584. For more background regarding
this critically important issue, please visit <http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages> www.nfb.org/fair-wages and to learn
about the Federation in Colorado, go to
<http://www.nfbco.org> www.nfbco.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment