Goodwill Industries claims to offer job training and employment opportunities for those who have fallen on hard times. So why is this non-profit industry paying people sweat shop wages?
Alternet.org and NBC have reported that Goodwill pays some employees in sheltered workshops as little at 22 cents on the hour--exploiting a loophole in the Fair Labor Standards Act that effectively allows below-minimum wage earnings for the disabled.
Meanwhile, one Goodwill CEO in southern California made over a million dollars in salary and benefits in 2011. Some Goodwill employees, like Harold Leigland, feel they are "trapped." Tell Goodwiill to pay all its employees minimum wage without discriminating against the disabled!
We the undersigned are outraged that you have used a loophole in the law to justify paying people only 22 cents an hour.
Your stated mission is to help the poor and struggling. You purport to offer useful job training and employment opportunities. We can not see that paying someone only 22 cents for an hour of his work is helpful and gives him a leg up the workplace ladder. Furthermore, it looks like you are exploiting the disabled.
Please pay all your employees the minimum wage or better!
