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Goodwill exploits workers with penny wages [English Subtitles]

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    Brian Williams
    It's a part of American life, when something is no longer useful to you,
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    you give it to Goodwill. You drop it in the Goodwill box,
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    perhaps in the supermarket parking lot near you,
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    and you've then done something good, with something you no longer consider good.
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    You may know that Goodwill donation centers employ disabled workers,
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    but you may not realize that some of those workers are legally exempt from minimum wage protection.
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    That means that some end up making just pennies per hour.
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    It is legal, but tonight, Harry Smith takes on the question of fairness.
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    Harry Smith: Goodwill, a place where you feel good about leaving your old clothes,
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    a place where you feel good about shopping in a tough economy.
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    Goodwill's mission is give jobs to people who are down on their luck, or have a disability.
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    Goodwill does a lot of good, no question about it.
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    But in back rooms like this one, in Great Falls, Montana,
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    out of sight of donors and shoppers
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    there is something going on that many disabled people do not feel so good about.
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    People with disabilties working for less than the federal minimum wage of
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    of $7.25 an hour. There are even places in America where Goodwill workers
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    earn as little as $0.22 an hour.
    And because of a loophole in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,
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    it's all perfectly legal
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    Sheila Leland: That's ridiculous.
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    Harry Smith: Harold and Sheila Leland have been married for more than twenty years. Both are blind and both have college degrees.
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    Sheila worked at the Goodwill facility in Great Falls, Montana, earning about $3.50 an hour for four years.
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    She says she quit last summer when they lowered her wage to $2.75 an hour.
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    Sheila Leland: At $2.75, it would barely cover my cost of getting to work. I wouldn't make any money.
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    Harry Smith: They call the facility "the plant," and Harold still works there.
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    It operates what's called a "sheltered workshop."
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    Here the disabled get virtually guaranteed employment, but they are not guaranteed minimum wage.
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    And that doesn't matter to some of the workers. Jeremy Davidson loves it here.
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    Harry Smith: You love it here?
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    Jeremey Davidson: I love it here, more than the world, yes. I also love NASCAR, but this and NASCAR are my two favorite things in life.
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    Harry Smith: But for others, it is a dead end, a job of last resort in a world in which there are few options.
Title:
Goodwill exploits workers with penny wages [English Subtitles]
Description:

Goodwill pays some disabled workers far less than the minimum wage, while some executives earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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Video Language:
English
Team:
Captions Requested
Duration:
10:25

English subtitles

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  • Revision 11 Edited (legacy editor)
    Lene Jul 12, 2013, 6:09 PM
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    Lene Jul 12, 2013, 2:32 AM
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    Lene Jul 12, 2013, 2:17 AM
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    Lene Jul 9, 2013, 2:03 AM