GOP resists Biden and AFL-CIO-backed plan to raise disabled workers’ pay

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler is backing Biden administration moves to end some of the enormous discrimination against disabled workers. | nwlaborpress.org

WASHINGTON —The AFL-CIO is praising, and the House’s ruling Republicans are panning, a Biden administration plan to end enormous pay discrimination against disabled people—discrimination which can drive their pay down to as low as 25 cents an hour.

The plan, when fully implemented after a phase-in of three years, would raise the pay for up to 8.35 million people who suffer from large disabilities, such as the wide range of autism, who could be in the U.S. workforce, as of November’s jobless statistics. That’s just under a fourth of all disabled people, 34.1 million, nationwide.

But only a fraction of disabled who could be in the workforce, 767,000, actually are.

And pay for the disabled is on a sliding scale. The more severely disabled you are, compared to a “normal” worker at the same task, the less you earn. The rock-bottom minimum wage for the most severely disabled is 25 cents an hour.

Democratic President Joe Biden, Acting Labor Secretary, Julie Su and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler all say that’s way too low. They want to raise the workers’ pay to the federal hourly minimum, $7.25.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the anti-worker, anti-union chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, dissents. Mouthing a common corporate class contention, Foxx says raising workers’ pay would cost them their jobs. Business says those words about raising the minimum wage.

Besides raising the disabled workers’ pay to the federal minimum wage over three years, Biden and Su would also phase out federal certificates employers apply for that let them pay disabled workers pennies per hour. No new certificates would be issued.

“Americans with disabilities deserve dignity, respect, and an equal chance at the American Dream,” Biden said on December 3, the International Day Of Persons With Disabilities. “People with disabilities are subject to shameful discrimination, harassment, exploitation, abuse, and violence. And too often, they struggle to get by—whether it is finding an accommodating job, enjoying public spaces, receiving quality education, or getting to and from school or work.”

“People with disabilities make valuable contributions to our workplaces and economy,” said Shuler. “For too long, federal law allowed employers to pay workers living with disabilities as little as 25 cents an hour—far below the federal minimum…Today, the Biden administration moves to address that injustice and finally end the subminimum wage for these workers.

“The AFL-CIO believes every worker is entitled to fair pay and a living wage for their labor. The subminimum wage treated people with disabilities like second-class workers, enabling exploitation and abuse without consequence. Ending this practice is the right thing to do—as it also has wide popular support.” Virginia is the latest among 14 states to gradually end the subminimum pay.

“The labor movement will continue to fight to empower all workers, regardless of our disability status, and end all pay discrimination in the workplace.” After lauding Biden and Su for their move, Shuler said she hopes incoming Republican President Donald Trump “maintains this huge leap toward justice for all workers with disabilities.’

If Foxx has her way on the issue and in her hyper-partisan, politically polarized committee, he won’t. Trump’s platform, Project 2025, is silent on the issue of wages for disabled workers.

Indeed, Foxx claims, the relevant section of the New Deal-era Fair Labor Standards Act, which established the special subminimum wages for people with disabilities, protects their jobs via the current low pay scales—scales which encourage employer exploitation of vulnerable people.

“This is misguided and irresponsible. We have plenty of evidence that shows” the FLSA section “doesn’t destroy opportunities for individuals with disabilities, it protects them,” Foxx claimed. “In states that eliminated or transitioned away from the program, those who were part of them often end up jobless and isolated.”

Su explained that after a year of investigation, study and meetings with stakeholders, including disabled people and their advocates, it’s time to bring them up to at least the current federal minimum wage. She says data and discussions show raising their pay won’t eliminate their jobs—contrary to what rabid right-winger Foxx claims.

Since the low disability pay section became law, “There have been significant legal and policy developments that dramatically expanded employment opportunities and rights for individuals with disabilities,” explained Su. “With this proposal, the department expects that many workers currently paid subminimum wages will move into jobs that pay full wages, which will improve their economic wellbeing and strengthen inclusion for people with disabilities in the workforce.”

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CONTRIBUTOR

Mark Gruenberg

Award-winning journalist Mark Gruenberg is head of the Washington, D.C., bureau of People's World. He is also the editor of the union news service Press Associates Inc. (PAI). Known for his reporting skills, sharp wit, and voluminous knowledge of history, Mark is a compassionate interviewer but tough when going after big corporations and their billionaire owners.