[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 27 (Friday, March 11, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     BLIND WORKERS' WAGE EQUITY ACT

                                 ______


                      HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 11, 1994

  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, this week I introduced H.R. 3966, the 
Blind Workers' Wage Equity Act, to ensure blind workers receive a 
decent, livable wage.
  Mr. Speaker, the Wagner-O'Day Act of 1938, amended as the Javitz-
Wagner-O'Day [JWOD] Act in 1971, provides blind and severely 
handicapped Americans with the opportunity to earn a living by 
manufacturing products in factories known as sheltered workshops. 
Through this landmark legislation, these workshops are privileged to 
noncompetitive contracts with the Federal Government so long as 75 
percent of their direct labor is performed by blind or severely 
handicapped workers. In 1993, the General Services Administration, 
Defense Logistics Agency and other Federal agencies purchased $215 
million in products from the workshops. In addition, the Federal 
Government further assists the workshops by locking in prices for the 
products, providing direct subsidies for construction, staffing, and 
equipment, and exempting them from income taxes. The products, which 
include mops, pens, pencils, helmet liners, paper pads, soap products, 
mattresses, and brooms, are manufactured in workshops part of either 
the National Industries for the Blind [NIB] or the National Industries 
for the Severely Handicapped [NISH] system.
  I laud the nature of the JWDO program, which has given members of our 
society a chance to stay off the public dole and be productive members 
of our society. I also laud the efforts of the Committee for Purchase 
From People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled, which is entrusted to 
secure contracts and fair market prices for both the NIB and the NISH 
workshops. What I am concerned with, however, is the exploitation of 
blind workers by many of the IB workshops. Approximately 40 percent of 
the 5,000 blind workers employed in the workshops are paid less than 
minimum wage. Disturbingly, Federal legislation enables them to do so 
legally.
  Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 [FLSA] allows 
employers to pay workers subminimum wages if their earning or 
productive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency, 
or injury. This provision was originally meant to expand employment 
opportunities for workers who would otherwise be perceived as 
unemployable. Before the FLSA, employers who did not want to risk 
hiring a nonproductive worker at a minimum wage would exclude the 
handicapped from the selection process. To address this problem, the 
FLSA calls for the Secretary of Labor to issue special certificates 
allowing the employer to circumvent minimum wage laws. Although section 
14(c), coupled with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, has 
undoubtedly accomplished its goal of including the handicapped in the 
workplace, abuse of the provision is prevalent.
  Time and time again blind workers have proven to be as productive as 
their sighted coworkers. There is simply no excuse to pay blind 
employees less for equal work. According to the NIB, major corporations 
and small businesses have begun to hire blind people in large numbers 
because they now recognize that they are an untapped resource. Alberto 
Torres, a blind darkroom technical for the Bronx Hospital Municipal 
Center emergency room, is a prime example. After assembling mops for 
many years at one of the workshops, Mr. Torres got his chance to 
demonstrate his skills in the competitive market. He now develops x ray 
film, preparing the developing solutions, cleaning processing machines, 
and maintaining the stocks of supplies. Even more remarkably, he 
transfers to several different subway trains during his daily 2-hour 
commute to his workplace.

  Mr. Speaker, today quality employees like Mr. Torres are denied 
minimum wage, and they are denied it for one reason--the workshops are 
legally permitted to do it. Employers decide the prevailing wage for a 
job, then pay the blind worker a mere percentage of that wage. 
Consequently, many blind workers are paid $2.75 or less per hour, $1.50 
less than their signed counterparts because, management claims, they 
are not as productive. But when we examine the keys to what makes a 
worker productive and, more importantly, who holds these keys, it is 
easy to see why blind workers can be less productive. If the workshop 
managers move the worker from job to job, deny proper training and/or 
continually raise the piece rate, how can the worker, sighted or not, 
be productive? In effect, these tactics stunt the development of the 
blind worker and lead to the rationalization of paying him or her 
subminimum wage.
  To erase the embarrassing mark on America's labor rights record, H.R. 
3966 will clarify that blind or visually impaired individuals are not 
to be covered by special certificates for employment under section 
14(c). The measure specifically prohibits the Secretary of Labor from 
issuing a certificate by reason of an individual's impaired vision or 
blindness. To preclude any confusion, the term ``impaired vision'' and 
``blindness'' are clearly spelled out in the bill.
  Be assured that H.R. 3966 is not a sweeping piece of legislation. 
Fewer than 80 workshops and 2,000 blind workers will be affected by the 
measure. Private industry, who not only have a solid record hiring and 
paying their blind employees but are actively seeking to do so, will 
not be affected. The many NIB workshops that already pay their workers 
minimum wage or higher will neither be affected. Only those workshops 
which have denied a fair, decent wage to its workers and, please 
remember, rely upon the largess of the American taxpayer to survive, 
will need to make adjustments.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3966, the Blind 
Workers' Wage Equity Act. It is imperative that we protect the rights 
and dignity of deserving workers.

                          ____________________