Two out of three prisoners are forced to work, in what is often referred to as modern day slavery
published by the American Civil Liberties Union, prison labor generates more than $11bn annually, with more than $2bn generated from the production of goods, and more than $9bn generated through prison maintenance services. Wages range on average from 13 cents to 52 cents per hour, but many prisoners are paid nothing at all, and their low wages are subject to various deductions.
“I was painting very expensive paintings for the staff and they were getting it for free,” said Corley. “The compensation I got was pictures of work afterwards. Realizing how many pieces I just made for free, it was kind of mind blowing, because as most of them are a 16 by 20 foot canvas, around 25 pieces. Today I sell them for $400 to $600, and those officers just got them for free.”
“Those are hard labor jobs, especially for women, and not getting paid, they’re hard on your body. You’re carrying extremely heavy backpacks with chemicals in them, we were chopping down trees, stuff you wouldn’t voluntarily do. It’s a lot of work for no money,” she said. The type of work varies, from prison maintenance duties such as janitorial, food preparation, maintenance and repair, or essential services, to public works assignment such as construction, prison industries that produce goods and services to other government agencies through a state-owned corporations, or producing goods and services for a private corporation.
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