Feature Writer Alena Roberts – Paying Disabled Workers Less Than Minimum Wage Must End
Over the past 50 years, the US has done a lot to change how people with disabilities are treated. No longer are the disabled housed in institutions, never to be seen in public, and many of them are working. Sadly though, many are working at what are called shelter workshops. These “places of employment” are legally allowed to pay their disabled workers less then minimum wage if their employer deems that their work is less then what an able bodied person would be able to do. These shelter workshops are designed to give disabled workers skills so that they can go out into the real job market, but in reality, many workers will never leave the shelter workshop or be paid at least minimum wage for their work. The Cerebral Palsy Association chapter in Oregon has just filed a lawsuit asking that the state of Oregon return to its original mission of getting disabled workers into real employment.
Last year the National Disability Rights Network came out with a report that looked at the effectiveness and usefulness of shelter workshops. This report, and the knowledge that only a quarter of disabled Oregonians are being given the tools to get out of shelter workshop placements, is what influenced the Cerebral Palsy Association to file the lawsuit. According to the report, there are numerous problems with shelter workshops. Some of the problems include: isolation from the community, reinforcement of living in poverty, teaching skills that can’t be transferred to competitive job options, and no need for innovation or change since they don’t have to compete for their contracts. The report found that a disabled worker in a shelter workshop earns on average $175 per month, where as the average able bodied worker makes $456 a week.
After reading the report, I am appalled to know that this kind of treatment is still legal. The ADA was passed over 20 years ago, and technology allows many disabled people to do tasks they never would have dreamed of. I encourage everyone to read the report and contact their congressmen to change the law. Here’s a link to the report: http://www.ndrn.org/images/Documents/Resources/Publications/Reports/Segregated-and-Exploited.pdf
Heres a link that discusses the lawsuit against the state of Oregon: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-oregon-disabled-lawsuittre80p07g-20120125,0,7475636.story
Here’s a link to the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act that’s in congress right now: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-3086
What are your feelings about these shelter workshops and sub-minimum wages for disabled workers? Let us know in the Reader’s Forum.