National Federation of the Blind Urges Boycott of Goodwill Industries

[caption id="attachment_15440" align="alignleft" width="300"] Goodwill Store in Hillsboro, Oregon[/caption]

While Goodwill has been highly touted over the years for its support and vocational training of disabled persons, the National Federation of the Blind has issued a statement strongly condemning Goodwill's practice of paying substandard, below minimum wages to persons with disabilities.  The following are the remarks issued to the press today:

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.

Goodwill unveils a film focusing on the greatness that lies within eachof us

GHN News For
anyone who has made a donation to Goodwill Industries or worked for the
organization, or who has had a family member or friend that they have
helped, recognizes the good they do, now encapsulated in a film making
the rounds this year.

A documentary film. For Once in My Life

is charming audiences across the country.  It focuses on the greatness
that lies within each of us. This heartwarming story, which has already
won awards at film festivals in Nashville, South by Southwest in Austin, Port Townsend, Sarasota
and Sonoma, chronicles the band's 28 members, all of whom have varying
developmental and physical disabilities, such as Autism, Down Syndrome
and blindness, and a wide range of behavioral disorders.

Since the band first began in 1981 at Goodwill Industries South Florida in Miami, FL,
music has been their shared joy.  It goes beyond the elements of age,
gender, race, physical and mental abilities, and socio-economics to
focus on the accomplishments of men and women who know what it means to
have a disability.

"For Once in My Life
provides a message that is consistent with Goodwill's philosophy: the
people we serve have the same potential and warts that we all possess,"
said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of
Goodwill Industries International. "Just given the opportunity, we can
all do amazing things. As we learn about each band member, we realize
the humor, hope, compassion and perseverance that exist within us all."

Viewers
follow the lives of lead singer and saxophonist Terry, who is blind;
pianist Christian, a virtuoso who is blind and autistic; and soprano
Nancy, who has a mental disability and is the primary caretaker and
breadwinner for her two older siblings, who also have disabilities, and
many other inspiring individuals.

The
film pays tribute to the teachers and parents who believe in the band
members' abilities, and to others who rise above limited stereotypes
themselves to become productive, contributing members of society.

 visit www.4onceinmylife.com or find them on Facebook or Twitter.

To learn more about working with people with disabilities, visit www.goodwill.org

About Goodwill Industries International