Obama to include disabled workers in minimum wage order

[alcibiades_mystery]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/02/12/obama-disabled-workers-subminimum-wage/5409927/

WASHINGTON — President Obama's executive order to raise the minimum wage for workers under future federal contracts includes a key provision to address concerns raised by advocates for disabled workers, according to the White House.

The president, who is set to sign the order at a ceremony in the White House East Room on Wednesday afternoon, announced his plan to take unilateral action at last month's State of the Union Address and hike the minimum wage for low-wage workers to $10.10 from the current rate of $7.25.

Almost immediately after announcing his plan, advocates for the physically and intellectually disabled began pressing the White House to include the group among those getting raises. Under a government program that dates back to 1938, employers could pay certain disabled workers subminimum wages — sometimes for a fraction of the prevailing minimum wage.

But with Obama's executive order, that practice will be discontinued with disabled workers laboring under federal contracts in the future.

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[cali]

1. kudos to the President

in the thread about how it wouldn't cover disabled workers, plenty of ardent defender/adorers were arguing how it was a good thing it didn't include disabled workers because those are people in sheltered workshops.

[ProSense]

3. "plenty of ardent defender/adorers "

"plenty of ardent defender/adorers were arguing how it was a good thing it didn't include disabled workers because those are people in sheltered workshops."

Couldn't resist, huh? Who on earth was arguing that it was a "good thing"?

[Scuba]

5. A lot of DUers. There's a thread full of such posts somewhere around here.

[ProSense]

7. This one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024420929

I see a lot of explanations. I don't see anyone claiming it's a "good thing" that the executive order didn't include them.

Maybe I missed those comments.

[Scuba]

9. That's the thread. Lots of smug justifications for sticking it to the disabled.

[yeoman6987]

8. Not good enough

Although a nice start, the folks currently working will not see the increase until the new contract which in some cases will be 3 years from now. Only new contracts and new hires will see the increase in pay.

[ProSense]

11. Think about

"Although a nice start, the folks currently working will not see the increase until the new contract which in some cases will be 3 years from now. Only new contracts and new hires will see the increase in pay."

...what you're saying and the reality. The order will immediately affect nearly a half a million workers and within "3 years" when new contracts are negotiated, the other workers. Still, the whole point is to help as many people as possible and force Congress to act, at which point the concern about the rest will be moot.

Executive order on federal contracting means real action on economic mobility

By Heather C. McGhee and Amy Traub

When it comes to boosting economic opportunity, President Obama isn’t going to wait for Congress anymore...the President made a powerful statement about employers’ obligation to reward work -- starting with his own obligation as the executive in charge of millions of federal contracts.

In a study we released last May, Demos found that nearly two million private sector employees paid with federal tax dollars through contracts, loans, grants, leases and health spending, earn wages too low to support a family. These are people working on behalf of America, doing jobs that we have decided are worthy of public funds—yet they’re being treated in a very un-American way. That’s why federal workers have been walking off the job for the last year...Now the President has taken a major step to lift up hundreds of thousands of those workers. In the process, the president will help families work their way up out of poverty and give new momentum to efforts to raise the minimum wage for everyone laboring too hard for too little in today’s low-pay economy.

The truth is that preferring contractors who pay workers at least $10.10 an hour will have benefits far beyond the workers themselves and their families. When our tax dollars subsidize and promote the creation of low-wage jobs rather than positions that enable workers to afford the necessities of life, there is a ripple effect throughout the economy: poorly-paid workers have less to spend in their communities, and businesses facing less consumer demand in turn hire fewer workers, stunting economic recovery. Low-paid workers also contribute less in taxes and more often need public benefits to provide for their families....From the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act onward, the idea that the federal government should be a model employer – and that employees working on behalf of the public should have strong workplace protections – has an extensive history in our country. The use of executive orders to improve the employment practices of companies granted federal contracts also has a long precedent. Beginning in 1941, successive presidents from both parties signed executive orders aimed at preventing employment discrimination by federal contractors. President Obama’s order raising wages for companies that do business with the federal government follows this successful precedent.

If the cost of federal contracts is a concern, the spotlight should be not on the employees who will finally see a raise to $10.10 an hour, but rather on the over $21 billion a year the government spends on the pay of their bosses, the top executives at contracting firms. After Demos put a number on this subsidy of executive excess in a September report, Congress included a lower maximum pay reimbursement for contractors in its December budget deal. But even the lower cap still provides executives a roughly $234.00 an hour subsidy. When you consider that our current contracting system fuels inequality through both lavish compensation for CEOs and poverty wages for front-line workers, it becomes clear where cost-cutting efforts should be focused.

- more -

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/196837-executive-order-on-federal-contracting-means-real-action

On the lower cap for maximum pay...

Varied views on new contractor-pay cap

By Josh Hicks

Federal worker unions have applauded a new limit on pay for government contractors, but one industry group has warned that the “arbitrary” cap will cause problems for those who do business with federal agencies.

The restriction, which came as part of the new budget deal Congress and President Obama approved last month, reduced the highest level of contractor compensation from its previous annual limit of $952,000 per individual to $487,000 per individual, a drop of nearly 49 percent.

The Professional Services Council, a group that represents the professional- and technical-services industries, said in a statement on Friday that the rule will “inhibit the ability of companies to attract top talent.”

<...>

The American Federation of Government Employees has argued since at least last year for lowering the limit to $230,700, which would match Vice President Biden’s salary in 2013. The organization included that proposal in its list of 2014 legislative priorities.

- more -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/01/03/varied-views-on-new-contractor-pay-cap/

Obama pushes to limit federal spending on corporate executive pay
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022927167

[ProSense]

2. Good. Still,

"Obama to include disabled workers in minimum wage order"

...it the FLSA provision needs to be repealed when Congress raises the minimum wage.

It's time to repeal section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024425761

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Agreed...it is a completely retrograde provision dating to a time of ignorance about disability

[ProSense]

12. The OP is good news,

but not enough to garner recs like the threads announcing that this wouldn't be included.

"Good on him" LOL!

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. I'll admit that I'm not able to see all responses to this thread while logged in

Oh well. I apply a rigorous process of "not-giving-a-fuck-what-that-person-says" before applying that filter.

[Autumn]

4. That is great. I'm glad he included disabled workers in that.

[Egalitarian Thug]

10. K&R Good on him. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. ...

tra la la

[Whisp]

15. Thankyou, Mr. President. n/t

[Jefferson23]

16. YES!!!!!!!!! Thank you, President Obama....excellent fix. K&R

[KamaAina]

17. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network played a role in that

http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/02/autistic-self-advocacy-network-applauds-president-obamas-inclusion-of-workers-with-disabilities-in-executive-order-raising-the-minimum-wage-for-federal-contractors/

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the premier national advocacy organization run by and for Autistic Americans, issued a statement today praising the Obama administration for including workers with disabilities in today’s executive order raising the minimum wage for employees of federal service and concession contractors to $10.10/hour. After initial statements from administration officials that disabled workers now being paid less than minimum wage under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act would not be included, the disability advocacy community spoke out clearly and unequivocally on the importance of including workers with disabilities in the executive order. After a two week advocacy campaign by dozens of disability rights groups, the executive order due to be signed today will include workers with disabilities now under Section 14(c).

“We applaud President Obama and Secretary Perez for demonstrating their commitment to equality and economic opportunity for workers with disabilities, and hope the administration will join us in fighting in Congress for the ultimate repeal of Section 14(c),” said ASAN President Ari Ne’eman. “This is a significant step forward for workers with disabilities.”

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, working jointly with the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination and a wide variety of cross-disability and labor organizations, called upon President Obama and Secretary of Labor Tom Perez last week to include workers with disabilities in the executive order in a joint letter and an active grassroots campaign which drew national support and attention. In response to remarks made by Secretary of Labor Tom Perez after the State of the Union stating that the White House lacked the authority absent congressional action to include workers with disabilities in the executive order, ASAN produced a legal memorandum analyzing and outlining the President and the Secretary of Labor’s authority to take such action.

Allison Wohl, Executive Director of the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination, expressed the enthusiasm of the collaboration for the final form of the executive order, saying “We are pleased that the president heard the concerns that our member organizations and allies voiced: that a provision from a law passed in 1938 is out of date and discriminatory and is in need of reform and that workers will disabilities deserve to be paid fair wages for fair labor.”

This, to my knowledge, is the first time Autistic people have ever affected public policy in the U.S. But I've met Ari, and I seriously doubt it will be the last.

[ProSense]

18. President Obama's remarks on signing of minimum wage executive order

President Obama's remarks on signing of minimum wage executive order
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/12/1277119/-President-Obama-s-remarks-on-signing-of-minimum-wage-executive-order