Is Goodwill actually good?

Goodwill was founded in 1902 by a Methodist minister with the vision to “empower people through work,” according to Goodwill’s website. Through the years, Goodwill has prided itself on its low-cost items, and their priority to higher those with mental health disabilities. Also, they are a tax-exempt non-profit. With all of Goodwill’s great intentions, are they actually doing good? In recent years, one of Goodwill's loudest critiques is how they treat and pay their workers with mental health disabilities.

“It [is] paying many of its disabled workers a sub-minimum wage under the now-controversial Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Henry Cordes. Cordes has written many articles about Goodwill over the years to show the public where their money was going. One thing is certain, their money is not going toward paying certain staff members according to Forbes.

“A provision in the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) of 1938 gives employers the right to pay people with disabilities below the minimum wage,” according to Forbes. Sheila Leigland was one of the Goodwill workers that fell prey to the Fair Labor Act. Goodwill was paying Leigland $3.99 an hour because of her disability: blindness. When they tried to cut her salary to $2.75, she finally spoke out, according to Forbes.

“It’s not just me—all Goodwill employees deserve [to be paid fairly]. They call themselves leaders in providing opportunity for the disabled, but since when did opportunity look like a quarter an hour,” said Leigland. Sec 14 (c) of the Fair Labor Act makes Goodwill’s actions acceptable in the eyes of the law, but not in the eyes of everyone. A petition for Goodwill to pay all of their employees minimum wage on change.org is now closed with 220, 501 signatures. Goodwill is being scrutinized, according to Forbes, but is this affecting their profit?

The thrift giant makes $4 million a year, according to Ruth McCambridge with Non-profit Quarterly. One of their target audiences is college students, according to the non-profit’s website. In their article, “Goodwill College Essentials”, they aim to help college students create their college wardrobe on a budget. Do college students know about Goodwill’s business secrets? If they did would it affect if they shopped there? In an interview with Joseph Ross, a Junior at Oklahoma Baptist University, he gave his opinion.

“I did not know [that Goodwill paid their mental health workers under minimum wage] but now I definitely won’t [shop there],” said Ross. The ethics of the business caused a problem for him until he thought more about it.

“Let’s be honest, I mean, I do get stuff from Apple… Yes, I am not. What’s the word? Continuity,” said Ross. Is a lack of continuity a valid reason to shop at an unethical organization? For Ross, the answer is still unclear, but for other students, thrifting is a way of life.

“I feel like thrifted pieces often fit my style better than new clothing because I’m really into vintage styles. I think that high-waisted skirts and little blouses fit women so much better than some of the newer, tighter styles,” said Alicia McElhaney, a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland in an article by The Huffington Post. By thrifting, anyone has the opportunity to be more unique than any fast fashion trend according to McElhaney.

Fast fashion is, “cheap, trendy clothing, that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed,” as defined by Good on You. Also, fast fashion contributes “12.8 million tons of textiles annually [in America alone],” said Marc Gunther in the article “Fast Fashion Fills Our Landfills.” Is it better to shop secondhand at a store that treats some of their employees unfairly, or is it better to possibly be contributing to an ever-growing landfill? McElhaney would agree with the first, while Forbes would agree more with the latter. Goodwill may be doing some good in their community, but hopefully, there is a non-profit in the world doing it better.