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REVOLUTIONARY COMMON SENSE LIBRARY
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Labor Day
Revolutionary Common Sense by Kathie Snow
www.disabilityisnatural.com
Just prior to the Labor Day weekend, email messages included sentiments like, “Have a happy Labor Day,” and “Hope you have the day off!” Some of us did; some of us didn’t. But the majority of American adults—whether they were currently employed or not, whether they had a day off or not—have experienced the joy of receiving a paycheck, the contentment of being good at what they do, and the hope and anticipation of moving on to a better job.
Can the same be said for the majority of people with disabilities? Unfortunately
not. Too many have never had a real job. Some are underemployed in low-paying,
dead-end, part-time jobs. Others have been “assigned” to “work” in
sheltered workshops, earning sub-minimum wages. Few will ever move beyond these
paltry “employment opportunities.”
Many service providers bristle at the “sub-minimum wage” terminology.
One provider exclaimed, “They’re not ‘sub-minimum wage’ jobs—‘compensatory
wages’ is the appropriate term!” Loosely-translated, this means
that if John, a person without a disability, can make 10 widgits an hour; but
Jim, a person with a disability, can only make 2 widgits an hour, he’ll
be fairly compensated if he’s paid 2/10ths of what John is paid.
This sounds good in theory, but think about your own workplace: haven’t
you known co-workers who share the same job description as yourself (or maybe
one even “higher”) who don’t work as hard as you, but they
get paid the same as you or even more? What might happen if your employer tried
to institute “compensatory wages” for all their employees? Just
imagine the brouhaha!
My friend, Cindy, is the owner of a popular lodge/motel in Colorado.
She is also the parent of two teenagers, one of whom happens to have
a disability. A high school special ed teacher called her to inquire
about employment for students with disabilities. Cindy was delighted
to meet with the teacher and a 17-year-old female student. After a
tour of the property and a chat about potential jobs, the teacher escorted
the student to her car, then returned to Cindy and gushed, “This is a great opportunity for you—you’ll
get a new employee, but she won’t cost you a penny!” Cindy was
appalled, and responded that anyone who worked for her would get paid. But
the deal was off: a real job for real pay didn’t fit with the school’s
policies!
How many people with disabilities are “working” in jobs for no
pay? And how can this practice be justified? On December 6, 1865, Amendment
XIII to the Constitution of the United States outlawed slavery and involuntary
servitude, “except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted...” Working for no pay in a job you didn’t
choose is slavery. Perhaps it’s also a form of punishment for the “crime” of
having a disability!
In pre-Civil War America, slave owners bought into the myth that
their slaves were happy and grateful for the opportunity to work.
Today, many who “employ” people
with disabilities in slavery-like conditions feel the same way: “Our
employees are happy...and what would they do if we weren’t here to provide
this help?” This pathetic and dangerous mentality is reinforced by parents
who say they’re “grateful” the school system has found “work” for
their young adult children. These same parents share their feelings with their
children—insisting they should be grateful for the opportunity to “work” for
low- or non-existent wages. Now back to American slavery—when slaves
began escaping in greater numbers, and with the first shot fired in the Civil
War, the myth of the “happy, grateful slaves” was exploded. What
will it take to explode this myth as regards people with disabilities?
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Many of us abhor the shameful unemployment rate of individuals with disabilities (estimated at 70-75 percent). Yet too many of us continue to look to government-funded programs to solve the problem. Yes, the government should attempt to remove barriers to the employment of people with disabilities. At the same time, are we willing to do nothing on our own? Where is our personal responsibility, as individuals with disabilities, family members, or friends? Do we need to wait for the system to act before we do? No. Can we ask people with disabilities to wait any longer? No!
So, yes, let’s work on systems change. But let’s also recognize
that systemic change generally occurs at a snail’s pace—and during
this snail’s pace, the lives of people with disabilities are passing
them by! So while we’re waiting for the system to change, we can also
get busy, as there’s much we can do, individually and collectively, right
now.
A recent (8/31/06) C-SPAN program focused on the latest national unemployment
rate (4.7 percent). Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Director of the Hudson Institute,
Center for Employment Policy, stated that the unemployment rate was “dependent
on education,” and added the following unemployment rates of people with
different educational levels:
—Bachelor’s degree - 2% unemployment
—Two years of college - 3% unemployment
—High school diploma - 5% unemployment
—No high school diploma - 7% unemployment
Department of Education statistics reveal that the high school graduation
rate of students with disabilities is half that of students without disabilities.
So, parents and teachers: are we ensuring students with disabilities
are receiving a real and meaningful academic education which they’ll need to go on
to post-secondary education, a trade school, or a real job? A “life skills” curriculum
is not a ticket to successful employment!
If you work in the human services system, are you helping people with
disabilities learn how to get their own jobs, instead of you finding
their jobs and making them dependent on you in the process? Are you
recommending post-secondary education and/or other real-life learning
opportunities in inclusive settings?
No matter what role we play, we can help individuals with disabilities
learn how to find jobs the way others do, such as networking in the
community, using ordinary employment services, and more. We can help
them learn to use the natural support of coworkers, and explore assistive
technology devices and accommodations which can ensure their success.
Within the service system, we can investigate waivers and other alternatives
to traditional services. We can and should see beyond the disability
diagnosis, and focus on the person’s abilities
and interests which can lead to successful employment. And we can help individuals
with disabilities understand that living a life of dependency on government
assistance is not the only option!
If you’re currently employed in any capacity, does your employer actively
recruit people with disabilities? If not, what can you do to change this? And
what about the employers of your spouse, other family members, friends, and
neighbors? Imagine the dent we could put in the shameful unemployment rate
of people with disabilities if we worked to influence the hiring practices
of our own employers!
There’s much we can do to ensure people with disabilities can join in
the celebration of Labor Day, and there’s not a minute to waste—so
let’s get to work!
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Learn about state-of-the-art employment practices at www.griffinhammis.com, and check out Making Self-Employment Work for People with Disabilities by Cary Griffin and David Hammis. The Rural Institute at the University of Montana (http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu) also has a wealth of helpful information. Technical assistance and specific worksite solutions can be found at the Job Accommodation Network (www.jan.wvu.edu).
©2006-07 Kathie Snow; all rights reserved. Permission is granted for non-commercial use of this article, as follows: you may download the PDF handout version of the article and photocopy to share with others and/or forward it as an Email attachment to others, for personal use as a handout. As a courtesy, please tell me (kathie@disabilityisnatural.com) how/when you use it. This is the intellectual property of Kathie Snow and is protected by Copyscape; permission is required before republishing in newsletters, on websites, etc. Clip art from Adobe InDesign.
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Our words reflect the way we think, so let's get rid of descriptors like "handicapped, physically disabled, mentally retarded, learning disabled" and other words that focus on the condition instead of the person. People First Language promotes dignity and respect for all!
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