Peckham ends sub-minimum wage pay
Judy Putnam ,
Lansing State Journal 7:01 a.m. EDT October 7, 2016
In Michigan, there are about 7,400 workers with disabilities who are paid less
than minimum wage. Julia Nagy/Lansing State Journal
Once employing a few hundred in sub-minimum or commensurate wage jobs, now all
Peckham workers make at least minimum wage.
Peckham Inc.
The manufacturing facility of Peckham Industries, Inc. is near the Capital
Region International Airport.(Photo: Courtesy photo)
LANSING - Peckham Industries Inc. has gotten out of the business of paying
workers with significant disabilities less than minimum wage.
The 40-year-old nonprofit vocational rehabilitation organization still employs
between 70 and 80 of the workers, but, since the end of last year, their
pay has been supplemented by Peckham Community Partnership Foundation, the
nonprofit's fundraising arm, said Greta Wu, chief human services officer, in
a written response to questions.
The workers are out of a group of 131 people with significant disabilities who
are referred from the local community health program. Peckham, which has
seven locations in Lansing, plus worksites in Charlotte; Battle Creek; Phoenix,
Arizona and Coralville, Iowa, employs 1,800 people with disabilities.
The decision came after a confrontation a year ago at the state Capitol where
Peckham officials and other advocates gathered to mark the 25th anniversary
of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Protesters interrupted the program, arguing that the state Capitol itself
didn’t comply with the ADA, lacking the needed signage in Braille among other
concerns. Peckham was targeted for
paying workers with disabilities well below minimum wage
while top officials, such as CEO Mitch Tomlinson, earned six-figure salaries.
Once employing a few hundred in sub-minimum or commensurate wage jobs, now all
Peckham workers make at least minimum wage.
It’s unclear what will happen to the jobs of those workers into the future.
“Continuation of these workers is dependent on our ability to continue the
subsidy and the availability of jobs,” Wu said.
She said Peckham has been reducing the number of workers earning commensurate
wage since 2013, when a program offering paid vocational training to special
education students at the Lansing School District’s Beekman Center ended.
The sub-minimum wage jobs are sometimes called 14(c) certificates, referring to
Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
While it ended its 14(c) jobs, the organization still defends the practice. Wu
said that nationally, the number of workers under a 14(c) certificate has
gone down while the number served in non-work activities has gone up. The
number of employed stayed the same.
Read more:
Mixed reports from other states when workshops closed
“That is the nexus of our concern, that if 14(c) is eliminated, those
individuals that used to work will now be relegated to non-work outings and
unpaid
work,” Wu said.
Paul “Joe” Harcz, a Mount Morris disability rights activist who is blind, was
arrested at the protest for trying to cross a police barricade to protest
the ADA anniversary event at the Capitol.
Charges of resisting and obstructing police were dropped
by the Ingham County prosecutor in August.
Even with the ending of sub-minimum wage pay, Harcz remains critical of Peckham
and other similar worksites, which he said segregate workers with disabilities.
“They certainly have nondisabled people. They’re the bosses,” he said.
Workers with disabilities “aren’t getting a choice. It’s a pipeline. Real
choice comes with having options, not with having one option,” he said.
Read more:
'Sweatshops' or a needed choice?
Contact Judy Putnam at (517) 267-1304 or email her at jputnam@xxxxxxx. Follow
her on Twitter
@judyputnam.
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Source:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinion/columnists/judy-putnam/2016/10/07/peckham-ends-sub-minimum-wage-pay/91316794/
