Thread by @hahnscratch

Prisons are built on the labor of the incarcerated. The already-inflated budgets of correctional departments would be exponentially higher if the incarcerated population weren't relied upon to keep the prisons operating. Let's dispel some illusions and talk about prison labor...

Prisons are like small cities or nations. There are imports of raw goods, exports of manufactured products, and a labor force (incarcerated) that keeps the prison going. Food processing, trade work, trash collecting, administrative tasks, etc are all executed by prisoners.

Take the kitchen as an example. It may take as many as 20 people to prepare a meal for a prison or section of a prison. Of those 20 people, 18 are incarcerated, with one prison guard (in a custodial role) and one free staff (in an advisory role - managing the work).

The guard literally does nothing but watch the prisoners and make sure they don't steal food. The free staff person directs the meal, like a manager of sorts, but does no actual food preparation. All cooking, serving, and cleaning is performed by the 18 incarcerated people.

Let's say the guard is making $40/hr & the free staff is making $30/hr. Half of the prisoners work for free. The other half make between $0.07 & $0.30 per hour, depending on position. That's an estimated $71.17 / hour in kitchen staffing (ignoring benefits).

Now, imagine everyone in the prison kitchen made their current wage or the CA minimum wage ($14), whichever is higher. We now have an estimated $322/hr to run the prison kitchen (IF the employees were making minimum wage). This is more than fourfold the actual cost in wages.

Now, expand this idea of cost to every operational aspect of a prison. The janitors are prisoners. Electricians? Prisoners. Plumbers? Prisoners. HVAC? Painters? Welders? Roofers? Machine repair? Administrative tasks & paperwork? Prisoners.

ALMOST EVERY SINGLE TASK NEEDED TO MAKE A PRISON RUN IS PERFORMED BY PRISONERS. Guards do guard things - i.e. turn keys, open / close doors, sign paperwork, yell / scream, shoot guns / spray pepper spray, watch people. Free staff are essentially low-level managers.

In California prisoners, it is illegal to organize a union. It is illegal to call for a strike. It is illegal to refuse to work. It is illegal to encourage other people to refuse to work. Not going to work or not taking a job assignment will result in disciplinary action.

If every prisoner refused to work, the department of corrections would organizationally collapse. PRISONS DEPEND UPON THE CONSENT OF THE IMPRISONED. And they depend upon the willing labor of the imprisoned to continue imprisoning.

This year, the budget for the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is roughly $13.6 billion dollars, amounting to about $146,000 per prisoner per year.

If every prisoner in California made minimum wage, it would add about $2.3 billion to the budget. If incarcerated people were replaced with free people, the replacement wages would be significantly higher than $14/hr. The use of slavery saves CA many billions of dollars annually.

But that's just the internal functioning of prisons. There are also imports and exports, which are difficult to quantify but warrant mentioning.

For example, every single automotive license plate in California is manufactured at Folsom State Prison. Materials in - products out.

The clothing worn by prisoners is made in prisons. The furniture used in state facilities, such as the DMV, is manufactured in state prisons. Cleaning supplies for cleaning prisons are made in prison.

Caging for prisoner transport vehicles are made in prisons. Dummy cages, for unruly prisoners, are made in prisons. Yes. Prisoners build the cages that hold the prisoners.

The long and short of all this should be fairly obvious. The 13th Amendment provides the slavery exception for penal institutions because, if it didn't, prisons would cease to exist. Nobody would be willing to pay the full cost for this system.

And just to avoid confusion, I’m not saying that the incarcerated are offering consent in the traditional sense - but I am saying that the prison’s existence depends upon the incarcerated’s compliance / acquiescence.

And to avoid confusion, I’m not saying that the incarcerated are offering consent in the traditional sense - but I am saying that the prison’s existence depends upon the incarcerated’s compliance / acquiescence.

And let’s not forget the labor of incarcerated firefighters. We all know about those that fight wildfires, but each prison also has a regular fire department that is partially manned by trained, incarcerated firefighters.

And I’m not suggesting we get rid of the incarcerated firefighting program, at least not without eliminating the more abusive labor behind the walls first. washingtonpost.com/outlook/prison…