Imagine yourself as a person with a disability and you are working at a job and your manager tells you that you are getting less money than the other coworkers are getting. How would you feel if you were getting less money at your job? According to the Asan Autistic Self Advocacy Network “this is unfair. People doing the same job should get the same amount of money even if they have a disability. Businesses that have 14(c) certificates segregate people with disabilities from people without disabilities. Segregated employment is bad for us. People in segregated jobs are often isolated from their communities and often make less money. There are laws that would stop businesses from paying people with disabilities less than the minimum wage.” People with disabilities want the same opportunities as everyone else and we want to be in the community and not be in segregated jobs. People with disabilities have ways to be successful in a job. According to the American Association of People with Disabilities “with the right supports and accommodations, disabled people can succeed in competitive, integrated employment alongside their colleagues without disabilities and be paid at least minimum wage. Passage of the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act would end the discriminatory practice of subminimum wage and provide states with grants and technical assistance needed to transition to competitive employment and create robust employment support programs for people with disabilities. After 85 years of subminimum wage, it is time for people with disabilities to have real employment opportunities for equal pay. Please support the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act today. This important legislation would end the outdated practice of allowing employers to pay subminimum wages and allow people with disabilities to work in their communities for fair pay. I hope you will support fair pay by voting yes on this bill. According to the Premier Source for Development Disability News “The advocacy groups acknowledge that ending the subminimum wage program would require “time and resources to ensure that people with disabilities have the opportunity to successfully transition to their next step — whether that is to competitive integrated employment or to some other pre-employment or support service.” We have different abilities but according to Dayton Daily News “The vast majority, if not all, people with disabilities can work at some level,” Sjoberg said. “If they are matched with something that is good for their skills and interests, if they’re given the accommodations they need to make that job work, they work and they work well.” People with disabilities should have an opportunity and get the same experiences, to be in a community like everyone else. People with disabilities have unique interests, creative ideas, and good employment skills. We must begin to change our mindset and encourage people with disabilities throughout their employment journey. People with disabilities have a lot to offer to the workforce. According to Premier Source for Development Disability News “The practice of paying disabled Americans subminimum wages is unfair, unjust and only further discriminates against our community that faces so many challenges already in our daily lives,” said Maria Town, president, and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. “People with disabilities deserve to be paid a fair wage regardless of their work environment. This practice has endured for 90 years. It is time for it to end.”
By Kellyn Donahoe, YAC member
