Thread: Disabled workers feel vulnerable as jobs vanish

As I read this I noticed many of these jobs are the kind of jobs illegals are doing. What's wrong with that picture???

Disabled workers feel vulnerable as jobs vanish
By Jocelyn Wiener - jwiener@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1




Steve Ambrunn, recently laid off from a janitorial job, unloads boxes at PRIDE Industries in Roseville.
Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com



Kevin Schmidt, a 21-year-old with attention deficit disorder, cried when he learned that his job mopping and vacuuming at a tech company was being phased out.

Steve Ambrunn, 26, who has developmental disabilities, felt "mad" after he was laid off from his janitorial job at a construction supply company.

"Having a disability, most places won't even hire," said Christian Johnson, 33, who became cognitively impaired after hitting his head in a childhood skateboarding accident. "I could be out looking, but I'm not going to find anything."

As the economy sours, advocates for people with disabilities are expressing concern about that population's already bleak employment prospects.

A 2004 Cornell University study showed just 37.5 percent of the nation's working-age people with disabilities were employed, compared with 77.8 percent of those without disabilities.

With the Sacramento region's unemployment rate at 6.2 percent in February – eight-tenths of a percentage point higher than it was a year ago – some advocates say people with disabilities are taking a particularly hard hit.

"People with disabilities should not be the last hired and the first fired," said Bryon MacDonald, of the World Institute on Disability, a public policy center in Oakland. He said a growing number of disabled people are signing up for public benefits – a long-standing trend in periods of economic downturn.

The state Department of Rehabilitation, which offers job training and support to people with disabilities, has received 1,000 more applications this year than it did last year.

MacDonald and other advocates worry that proposed budget cuts to state programs for the disabled, which provide everything from health benefits to vocational training, would exacerbate the economic plight of a population that too often lives near or below the poverty line. Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, the Department of Rehabilitation would face a 10 percent cut in funding.

Roseville-based PRIDE Industries, which helps people with significant disabilities find work with private companies, as well as employing them in its own warehouses, has seen an increase in job seekers. At this time last year, they had 119 people looking for work; now they have 148. An additional 18 people have lost their jobs since January.

"That's definitely a new trend," said Elisabeth Brinton, PRIDE's senior vice president for sales, marketing and government affairs.

"We see real urgency around this issue," she said.

It used to take PRIDE a week to place someone in a job; now it can take a month. To address the problem, PRIDE has stepped up its efforts to find jobs by increasing the number of "job developer" staff positions from six to 10 in recent months.

One of those job developers will hopefully find somewhere for Christian Johnson to work after the family-owned Lincoln grocery store where he currently works shuts its doors later this year. Johnson is proud of his efforts bagging groceries, returning shopping carts and stocking shelves.

"Whatever is asked for, I'm doing the job," he said.

Before he found the grocery job two years ago, he'd had a hard time finding work that made him feel valued and respected.

"I would be insulted, treated like trash," he said. "I felt like there was no progress for me. There was no realistic future."

Now, he uses his earnings from the grocery store – he makes a smidge more than minimum wage – to pay rent on his own apartment.

Many companies are making a greater effort to address biases, said MacDonald, of the World Institute on Disability. He names Walgreens, Chevron, Marriott and Kaiser Permanente as some standouts. But, even when the market is good, advocates say plenty of prejudices persist against people with disabilities. Employers assume they'll cost more to accommodate or have a hard time imagining how they might do a specific task.

Once the market starts shrinking and competition becomes more fierce, those prejudices can make it that much harder for someone with a disability to land even an entry level job.

Companies, said Barbara Duncan of Protection & Advocacy, Inc., "are not in a risk-taking mode when the economy is tight."

Brinton says many PRIDE job seekers are competing for jobs not just with high school students, but with workers laid off from the housing sector.

"When you add that level of competition, the person who isn't the 'optimum' candidate doesn't have a chance," she said.

Vicki Smith, a sociology professor at the University of California, Davis, who studies work and employment relationships, said she doubts people with disabilities would be specifically targeted in job cuts. They have protected status under the law, she said, and singling them out would be grounds for a lawsuit. But anyone who holds an unskilled job is more vulnerable as companies look to trim back, she said.

"If your job isn't dedicated to the bottom line, it's expendable," she said.

But there are bright spots. Ambrunn, who describes his disability as "handicapped," proudly used his minimum wage earnings to buy pizza, clothing and video games – before losing his janitorial job.

A few weeks ago, PRIDE found him a new job, loading boxes of computer parts into trucks in its Roseville warehouse.

As Ambrunn pushed a cart across the smooth concrete floor the other day, his face lit into a grin. He had a good job. It was a nice day. He started whistling.

About the writer:
Call The Bee's Jocelyn Wiener, (916) 321-1967.


Christian Jackson, 33, of Lincoln, left, and Kevin Schmidt, 21, of Citrus Heights work for PRIDE Industries in Roseville. The agency, which helps people with disabilities find work in the private sector and employs them in its own warehouses, has seen a big hike in job seekers.
Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/808914.html

We do not have a shortage of people or willing workers and it's a shame they too are being displaced. Wanna talk about hard workers, honest workers, dependable workers........that's the disabled for sure.

Vicki Smith, a sociology professor at the University of California, Davis, who studies work and employment relationships, said she doubts people with disabilities would be specifically targeted in job cuts. They have protected status under the law, she said, and singling them out would be grounds for a lawsuit. But anyone who holds an unskilled job is more vulnerable as companies look to trim back, she said.

Oh sure, kind of like the way that businesses would never "knowingly" hire illegal aliens... or like the way that Americans are never shunned because they are, well, Americans... Somehow, I'm very, very cynical when I hear stuff like that...

Also, in my view, the most disabled humble American holds rank over the most hard-working illegal alien. We need to take of our own folks first. Most of these folks are the ones that: most deserve our help, are almost always law-abiding, and when given the opportunity, are very hard workers.

This is one particular aspect of the illegal immigration and displacement problem that makes me absolutely livid.

Me too "Phred" here where I live alot of our fast food places and courtesy clerk jobs are held by disabled and High school or college students, and it use to be that way all over the country..

They must not be considered people huh!! since illegals are not taking jobs from Americans in their eyes




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Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, the Department of Rehabilitation would face a 10 percent cut in funding.

This is the kind of thing that really makes me angry!!!! We can't afford this but we can afford to give out "BILLIONS" of dollars to illegal aliens in one form or another?????

There is a whole lot wrong with this picture. Americans LOSE again, while ILLEGAL ALIENS are PANDERED TO CONSTANTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!