America's prison labor system

[zarus tathra]

link

The American government has been critical of China's forced-labor policies, but the United States has a burgeoning prison labor pool of its own.

Russia Today filed a report on Sunday that said hundreds of companies nationwide now benefit from the low, and sometimes no-wage labor of America's prisoners.

Prison labor is being harvested on a massive scale, according to professors Steve Fraser and Joshua B. Freeman.

"All told, nearly a million prisoners are now making office furniture, working in call centers, fabricating body armor, taking hotel reservations, working in slaughterhouses, or manufacturing textiles, shoes, and clothing, while getting paid somewhere between 93 cents and $4.73 per day," the professors write.

And some prisoners don't make a dime for their work, according to the Nation, which notes that many inmates in Racine, Wis. are not paid for their work, but receive time off their sentences.

The companies that do pay workers can get up to 40 percent of the money back in taxpayer-funded reimbursements, according to RT.

That not only puts companies that use prison labor at a distinct advantage against their competitors, but, according to Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, it means American workers lose out.

"It's bad enough that our companies have to compete with exploited and forced labor in China," Paul told the Nation. "They shouldn't have to compete against prison labor here at home. The goal should be for other nations to aspire to the quality of life that Americans enjoy, not to discard our efforts through a downward competitive spiral."

Companies like Chevron, Bank of America, AT&T, Starbucks and Walmart all take advantage of that so-called "competitive spiral."

One of Walmart's suppliers, Martori Farms, was the subject of an exposé by Truthout in which one female prisoner described her typical day working for the private company.

Currently, we are forced to work in the blazing sun for eight hours. We run out of water several times a day. We ran out of sunscreen several times a week. They don't check medical backgrounds or ages before they pull women for these jobs. Many of us cannot do it! If we stop working and sit on the bus or even just take an unauthorized break, we get a major ticket which takes away our 'good time'.
In response, Joseph Oddo, Martori Farms' human resource director, told the Guardian that the company is no longer using inmates because prisons are not always able to provide workers on call the way they need. Oddo also said that workers were provided enough water, but the prisoners didn't sip it slowly enough.

In a press release on Walmart's site, Ron McCormick, vice-president for produce, said, "our relationship with Martori Farms is an excellent example of the kind of collaboration we strive for with our suppliers."

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Not a new story.. I've written about this more than a few times here and other sites.. Want ti know where the jobs are? Look no further than the prison hidden away 30 miles out of town.

[zarus tathra]

I really don't know how to solve this problem. Once you send people off to prison, this kind of exploitation becomes almost inevitable. The only way out of this is for America to have more sympathy for the people who get sent off and push for lighter sentencing, which won't happen.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

It's why prison is a hidden problem.  You won't find many penitentiaries located right in big cities and the coercion can be overwhelming.  Of course the simple excuse is it trains inmates for jobs on the outside. The fact is it's training to return to prison..mostly for profit.
Take the profit out of incarceration, but that ain't gonna happen.
Read Michelle Alexander or HRW..

[Poison Tree]

Oddo also said that workers were provided enough water, but the prisoners didn't sip it slowly enough.

:-s

We don't let anyone import goods made by foreign prisoners, but if they are made by "home grown" prisoners, well that's just fine. You'd think some country would sue America for having an unfair trade advantage this way.

[mykcob4]

This comes from the conservative mindset. It is disguised as a way for inmates to learn a trade, but the fact is that it is pure exploitation and nothing more. A federal law must be passed that addresses how and why we incarcerate convicted people. A law that encompasses all aspect of incarceration.
I have thought about this for many years. There are those that can be and need to be rehabilitated. Which means that when they have served their sentence that they can be successfully assimilated back into society. Most "cons" have no opportunity to lead a successful life when they are released from incarceration. Years ago the Texas governor Ann Richards had a program that found jobs for ex-cons. It was very successful. The best part of it is that repeat offenses went way down. Rick Perry cancelled the program. Conservatives were very short sighted about this program. They didn't see how in the long run it was very cost effective and actually lowered cost to tax payers overall. It also provided a productive labor pool for businesses. The tax break that those businesses received that participated in the program was helpful and gave new businesses not only a reliable productive labor force but kept start up cost low enabling them to grow and stabilize.
The problem is that the conservatives have basically privatized prisons. When prisons become a for profit concern corruption soon follows.
I have many ideas about jail and incarceration that run the gamut of a persons sentence, from the moment they wake and through their sleep period, but it is long and drawn out and not suitable to post on this thread. basically it subjects the inmate to a controlled structure that doesn't allow racism, gangs or corruption to infiltrate the prisons. It provides total care and rehabilitation. Mainly it is a 24/7 boot camp for the entire time of the person's sentence.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Oddo also said that they were provided enough water, but the prisoners didn't sip it slowly enough.

:-s

We don't let anyone import goods made by foreign prisoners, but if they are made by "home grown" prisoners, well that's just fine. You'd think some country would sue America for having an unfair trade advantage this way.

We're hardly unique. It's a global problem and kept hidden. Far to many people believe that somehow treating anyone who's convicted of any kind of crime deserves whatever bullshit society can dish out...until they get caught with their own dick in the rat trap.

[zarus tathra]

I think the WTO specifically prohibits countries from using prison labor or something. That's practically the only labor practice they don't believe in. But obviously, like with the UN, nothing they say has teeth.

[Jason78]

I really don't know how to solve this problem.

You could stop using prisoners as forced labour?  That's one way.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

There are a few lines of thought in play and to an extent I understand them, but don't always agree.
One thought is that it gives inmates something to do and some say reduces prison violence. It also gives inmates a sense of worth even if the wages are extremely low or in some cases non-existent. In the case of no wages where it's forced labor with no wage it's supposed to serve as an incentive to not return. Some make false claims it's great training,  but few, if any companies hire people with felony records. It becomes a loop where no jobs bring crime and known felons are just to easy pickings for the for-profit prison industry. Living in shelters this past year I've meet hundreds of people with felonies hanging on them and few ever land jobs worth having.  Our society considers them disposable to put it mildly,  but seldom ever looks to see why they may have gotten into trouble lumping all felons together whether a minor drug conviction or murder. It's an ugly cycle that's not one likely to change because few want it to change.

[zarus tathra]

You could stop using prisoners as forced labour? That's one way.

yeah why don't i just take a trip down to the prison yard and stop using prison labor

[hrdlr110]

Pay the inmates a decent and fair wage, with access to only a small % while incarcerated. This provides forced savings, with some money for them to start over when they get out. Part of the problem with this plan would be to find scrupulous leaders in the prison system to safeguard inmate savings. I'm not sure cutting them a big check upon release would work well either, but tweaking the details could make it work for most.....some......more than current solutions?

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Two problems that need fixed. You can't make prison into a retirement account. Some people spend lifetimes in prison and go to work. It can't pay over a lifetime.  Good idea otherwise....well,  corruption. It's prison after all.  :-k

[Mister Agenda]

I read once that ever million dollars spent on keeping people in jail prevents 61 serious crimes, while every million dollars spent on incentives to finish high school prevents over 300 serious crimes. If true, it makes you wonder why we prioritize the way we do.

[zarus tathra]

I'm suspicious about those statistics, but whatevs