The Deaf Decry Discrimination In Employment

Deaf News: Profoundly Deaf people and Hearing Impaired persons are often the last to be hired and the first to be fired.



New Vision share an article by Cecilia Okoth: "We are often the last to be hired and the first to be fired, potential employers consider our disability over our qualifications and ability to deliver on jobs." The Deaf are concerned that the job market is not fair to them a move they say has worsened their predicament.



"We are often the last to be hired and the first to be fired. Potential employers consider our disability over our qualifications and ability to deliver on jobs," Ambrose Murangira, Uganda National Association of the Deaf (UNAD) executive director, said.



According to Murangira, the lack of a policy by public service ministry to promote employment for marginalized groups makes it worse for people living with disabilities (PWDs) to get and retain any form of employment.



"We have been relegated to working in Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs) and in the informal sector because the chances of getting employed in the public service and mainstream organisations are very limited," he added.



Murangira, also a Deaf and Disability scholar was speaking at a press briefing that was attended by 20 representatives of Deaf graduates sponsored by UNAD at National Theatre early this week.



"This is double jeopardy for us because to study and graduate as a Deaf person means overcoming great odds only to be shunned by the job market," said Rogers Kadoma, one of the graduates.



According to the 2014 census, there are 1.083,456 Deaf persons in the country. However scanty information shows that around 1% are in formal employment.



Doreen Sandra Kauma the gender and vulnerable groups' coordinator at UNAD said without affirmative action, more employers will not feel a sense of obligation to employ the deaf and PWDs as a whole.



A recent Disability Rights Coalition report suggests that employees with disabilities should at all times not be less than 5% for private employers and 10% for the public service.



However the labour market in Uganda presents multiple hurdles for the deaf and PWDs to overcome if they are to be absorbed in the job market. These range from physical access, access to information about vacancies, and self-confidence of PWDs to seek out opportunities because of the unique challenges and what society perceives them as... Read More at New Vision.



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First Deaf Canadian Iron Worker With Certificate

Deaf News: Winnipeg iron worker receives red seal certificate in Canada.



CTV WINNIPEG -- Jonathon Anderson is a qualified tradesman. At 26 years of age, he's the first Deaf Canadian iron worker with a red seal certificate.



The national designation lets qualified tradespeople use their skills anywhere in the country, something Anderson said he’s very proud of.



“I'm very happy to be doing what I am doing,” Anderson explained using American Sign Language. “I love my job."



Anderson was diagnosed as Deaf shortly after his first birthday, when his parents noticed he was sleeping through loud noises.



His parents said he never let his hearing impairment get in the way of what he wanted to do.



“He learned to adapt, he couldn't hear but he always had his way of communicating," his mother Bertha Anderson said.



Growing up in Winnipeg, Anderson attended the Manitoba School for the Deaf and St.James Collegiate.



According to his mother, Anderson played hockey and football with the help of an interpreter and by finding unique ways to communicate with his teammates.



“The coaches would often write on the white board to help with the communication,” she said.



Anderson attended Red River College where he earned his iron working qualifications.



Last spring he took his red seal examination and passed.



On Sunday family, friends and mentors gathered at Union Centre to celebrate Anderson’s achievement.



Throughout his career Anderson has worked across the country, but his most significant job was at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.



It’s the building he is most proud to have helped build.



"My parents will say my son helped build that building and my sons will say daddy worked there," he explained.



Anderson has also worked on many other buildings in the city, including the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, University of Manitoba and True North Square.



He hopes what he has accomplished will inspire youth who also live with a hearing impairment to chase their dreams.



"I want to show people that Deaf people can work with people who are not Deaf," Anderson said.



“You can succeed and prove them wrong if they say you can’t, show them that you can."



SOURCE



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McDonald's Refuses Interview Deaf Applicant

Deaf News: McDonald's pays up $56,000 to the EEOC after manager refuses to interview Deaf applicant in Missouri.



BELTON, MO -- (AP) McDonald's will pay a $56,500 settlement after a southeast Missouri restaurant manager refused to interview a Deaf job applicant.



The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday announced the settlement with McDonald's Corp. and McDonald's Restaurants. A message seeking comment from the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company was not immediately returned.



The EEOC says a young man who can't hear or speak applied online in 2012 to work at the McDonald's in Belton, Mo. He had previous experience as a cook and cleanup team member at a McDonald's restaurant in another state.



A lawsuit filed by the EEOC says that when the restaurant manager learned the applicant needed a sign language interpreter for his interview, she canceled the interview, even though the applicant's sister volunteered to interpret.



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Starbucks Opening Café Staffed By Deaf Baristas

VIDEO [CC] - A Starbucks store in Malaysia has become the first in the global coffee chain to focus on providing employment opportunities for Deaf people.



KUALA LUMPUR -- Seattle Times: A Starbucks store in Malaysia has become the first in the global coffee chain to focus on providing employment opportunities for those who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.



The store in Kuala Lumpur, which opened Wednesday, results from a partnership between Starbucks Malaysia and The Society of Interpreters for the Deaf, the company said.



The society provided Starbucks with two sign-language interpreters during hiring, training and coaching for Deaf employees, and to teach sign language to hearing employees, according to a Starbucks news release.

The store employs 10 Deaf employees and three hearing ones, including the store manager.



“This is an underrepresented community in Malaysia,” a Starbucks spokeswoman said. “Over the years, the team has worked with local organizations to hire Deaf partners [employees] and we wanted to celebrate and recognize the contributions of Deaf workers and people of all disabilities.”



Customers place their orders by filling out a menu ticket that they hand to the baristas. The baristas then key in the orders on a dual-screen system where customers can see if their order is correct. The order number is displayed on a large screen above the pickup counter when it’s ready.



The store also has a Starbucks Card kiosk where customers can check their card balances and reward-program points.



Starbucks currently has no plans to replicate this model beyond the Malaysia store, the spokeswoman said.



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New York City’s First Deaf Taxi Drivers

Exclusive Interviews: Meet one of New York City’s first Deaf uber drivers.



NEW YORK CITY - Pin Lu Was an accountant before ferrying passengers; ‘Deaf people are good drivers because they focus and pay attention’ Many initially convey surprise or concern when they discover he can’t hear, but he said being Deaf gives him an advantage in honk-filled. In many ways, Pin Lu is a typical UberX driver.



He uses his own car, complete with a crocheted owl dangling from the rearview mirror, to ferry passengers who hail him via the popular ride-sharing app.



He often works long hours, saving to start his own business someday. And he takes pride in his user ratings, saying he has earned 4.82 out of a possible 5 stars. But when New Yorkers step into Mr. Lu’s green 2011 Honda Accord, many are surprised to be handed a note asking them to type a destination into the GPS.



Mr. Lu, the note explains, is Deaf.



“Let me know if you have a preferred route by using your hand motion as direction,” it reads. “If you have any questions, knock your hand to my shoulder. Write/type note to me as communication.”



Uber Technologies Inc. estimates it has about 40 Deaf “driver-partners” across the U.S. and predicts that number is likely to grow as the company expands into new markets.



Mr. Lu, a spokeswoman said, is one of its first in the New York area.



Mr. Lu, 29 years old, was born without hearing in Fuzhou, China, and immigrated to Queens, New York with his family when he was 10.



After earning an accounting degree from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2011, he spent about two years doing accounting work for the Defense Department in Rome, N.Y., but he grew tired of small-town life “in the middle of nowhere,” he says.



Mr. Lu moved back to the New York area and switched paths, becoming a driver for Uber and occasionally for its competitor Lyft, earning his Taxi and Limousine Commission license in July.



Most weeks, he said, he now spends five to seven days a week seven to 10 hours a day behind the wheel.



Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing people in New York can get a driver's license with a restriction specifying they need a hearing aid or a full-view rearview mirror, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

“If I can do it, so can you.” Larry is Deaf and on a mission to follow his dreams. Find out how partnering with Uber made it possible for him to move to LA and support his family while starting a new career.



The Taxi and Limousine Commission doesn’t register or track the disabilities of its licensees, a representative said... Read more: The Wall Street Journal: Meet One of New York City’s First Deaf Uber Drivers



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