Prison Labor in the US

Usually when we talk about “prison labor”, our minds immediately travel to backwards, third world dictatorships. Say, China. But prison labor is also the latest fad, right here in our backyards. The companies in the United States which use prison labor vary widely – AT&T, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, J.C. Penney, Eddie Bauer. (1, 2) TWA uses prison labor to book flight reservations by phone. McDonalds uniforms are routinely made in Oregon Penitentiaries. Hell, Ohio prisoners make Honda parts. (2)

Why do companies use prison labor? Well, for one, it’s a heavily subsidized industry. Most of the costs of the factories – construction, equipment and maintence – is usually provided by the prison, ie. the state. Oftentimes, the corporation in question will “rent” space, such as the Exmark Corporation, which rents an industrial facility in a Washington state prison for a single dollar a year. (1)

Another thing, is the wages. Before prison labor became truly popular in the US, the prisoners were often paid only a pitance for busy work (license plates for instance), if they were paid at all. But by using the prison populace, companies can now get away with wages of twenty cents to a dollar or two an hour – right here! (2) It really eliminates all that pesky outsourcing.

The rather naive justification of exploiting inmates, is that it puts some money into their pockets – and perhaps even teaches them job skills. (3)

But, in reality, this is a paltry excuse – an attempt to justify prison labor, in the mecca of democracy, in the sole remaining superpower. To pay people little, to squeeze out a few extra bucks.

Any thoughts or comments?

1 – http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/phoenix/1997/1997-02-28/corporate-contracts-expl.html
2 – http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/7980/
3 – http://www.worldfreeinternet.net/news/nws108.htm
More info -

http://homepage.mac.com/lsf/spotlight/980316prisoners.html

http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/workampr.txt

http://www.prisonwall.org/labor.htm