WHEREAS, The National Federation of the Blind vigorously and consistently opposes the practice of paying slave wages to blind employees;
AND, WHEREAS, The National Federation of the Blind actively supports proposed legislation designed to end this practice by amending the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act to include blind workers under the protection of the Federal Minimum Wage Statute;
AND, WHEREAS, Maryland has a Commissioner of Labor and a State Minimum Wage Statute protecting workers who may not be covered by Federal law - a statute which is seriously flawed in that it exempts blind workers employed in organizations such as Blind Industries and Services of Maryland;
AND, WEHEREAS, the management of Blind Industries and Services of Maryland currently pays all production workers minimum wage or more; nevertheless, until the law is changed, a new company leadership could obtain certificates of exemption authorizing it to pay production employees a fraction of .the minimum wage;
AND, WHEREAS, other Maryland organizations currently employ blind workers at less than minimum wage;
AND, WHEREAS, Maryland is far ahead of the Federal Government in the area of recognizing the civil rights of the blind and ought to show the way by recognizing our economic right to a day's pay for a day's work;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the members of the National Federation 9f the Blind of Maryland in Convention assembled this 15th day of October, 1983 in the City of Gaithersburg, Maryland, that The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland will work with the Commissioner of Labor and members of the Maryland General Assembly to amend the State Minimum Wage Statute so that no blind person shall receive less than minimum wage.