And so it has come to pass.
The Hutt News yesterday reported that after twenty four years Packworx would close leaving 23 intellectually disabled workers without jobs. In 2006 it had employed 60 people.
At the time Labour announced it was repealing legislation that covered sheltered workshops, around 3,000 people were employed in the sector. Mrs Gray said some workshops closed immediately and a good number of others shut up shop when the legislation came into full effect on December 1 last year.
I suppose the women that marched on Parliament yesterday want similar equalising legislation. How does the saying go? Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.
5 comments:
I used to help out at the workshop in Cook St in Palmy. Some of the people there actually produced nothing in a day. Some did quite a lot. Most made a few widgets and road-markers that were made there. However, none of them were really productive. What it did was give them purpose and made them feel useful. They had a start time, talked with mates at work, smoko breaks, and left feeling good. Two able bodied people could have produced the same output as the entire workshop - but that was not the point. Labour screwed this one up. Of course places employing intellectually disabled poeople could never cope paying them a real wage.
Isn't that sad.
I can remember getting some carpet squares edgebound at a local sheltered workshops - the young man who did the work carefully and thoroughly worked out that I owed him $24 and added he thought I should give him a hug for doing such a good job (his supervisor told him off but I probably encouraged him by giving him his requested hug).
Those communists never stop trying to make everybody the same, in spite of the fact we are not.
As if legislation can make paralysed legs walk or reverse a brain disorder.
Another little chapter straight out of the Book of Unintended Consequences.
Another 'victory' for the left. Well done - Yeah right!
My wife was reduced to tears having to tell the group that made swing tags for her company that they could no longer afford their services due to this legislation. We got extra pocket money from doing them ourselves at home.
As has been said, its not about the money, it was about having purpose and being part of something.
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