In New York, chairs in classrooms, street signs and license plates have one thing in common: They are all produced by prison labor. As of 2024, around 1.8 million people were incarcerated in both state and federal prisons throughout the country. Of those inmates, 70 to 80% are workers in what are categorized as either an industry or non-industry job. Industry jobs include manufacturing signs, furniture, clothing and garments, and other manual labor, while non-industry jobs are usually jobs within the prisons, such as cooking, cleaning, laundry or clerical work. In the state of New York, 59,000 people are behind bars. In New York prisons, incarcerated individuals make from $0.16 to $1.30 an hour, which many refer to as prison or slave labor. In several states, prisoners are not paid for work at all, or forced to work under threat of disciplinary action, such as being written up or being put in solitary.
Most prison labor happens under Corcraft, the brand name for the Division of Correctional Industries, an entity which operates within the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Corcraft uses incarcerated individuals to manufacture a myriad of things including furniture, signage and cleaning supplies — making the company millions while the laborers are paid pennies. Though Corcraft states that its mission is to teach inmates skills that will help them when they are eventually released, inmates get little to no educational experience or substantive skill from the work that they do.
Many inmates in New York prisons are coerced into working for Corcraft under threat of disciplinary action, such as being written up, being put in solitary and losing good time credit which determines an inmate’s earlier release. Simple privileges such as being able to take a shower are withheld if people choose not to work.
Unfortunately, this forced labor is entirely legal. While many people think that slavery has been completely outlawed in the United States by the Thirteenth Amendment, many do not realize a concerning loophole that still exists. Section 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment states that slavery shall not exist in the United States, “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” That exception means that prisons can continue to profit off the work of inmates, and can legally pay them little to nothing in return.
The conditions under which inmates work are often hazardous and unsafe. Many do not receive any formal job training or standard protective gear which puts them at further risk of endangering themselves while doing manual labor. Prisons are explicitly exempt from labor and workplace safety laws, allowing them to violate many health and safety regulations. This leads to many injuries and deaths that could be easily prevented with proper training, personal protective gear and machine guarding mechanisms — all of which are standard in other workplaces. Additionally, it is nearly impossible for inmates to unionize or demand safer conditions, higher wages or protection from discrimination.
Beyond the low wages and dangerous conditions are high expenses. It is a common misconception that incarcerated people don’t have many expenses during their time in jail. In 2018, the spending per person in New York state prisons was between $1,200 and $1,400. Many inmates have costs such as legal fees, victim restitution, family support and fines. Inmates can be charged for medical visits, sanitary products, making phone calls, sending mail and emails or even receiving a package. A haircut voucher costs $2, any infraction can cost $5 or more and calls are charged by the minute. These fees quickly add up and consume a majority of the inmate’s earnings. A menstruating inmate in need of extra sanitary pads may have to spend a week’s worth of wages to get them. If they can not pay for these things, a restitution will be set up, which often traps them in cycles of debt. Recidivism is greatly reduced when incarcerated people return to daily life with savings and stable employment, while joblessness is the number one predictor of recidivism.
In 2018, the state announced that it would be giving incarcerated individuals and state prisons free tablets. These tablets, provided by JPay, offer a range of services including songs, games, movies and ebooks. While these tablets are advertised as free, every service comes at a price. Songs cost between $1 and $2.50, a video call with family costs $8.99 and an email costs 33 cents, with additional prices for photo attachments. JPay makes millions from these overworked inmates who are willing to pay what little they have to remain connected to the outside world and get a much needed break from the monotony of life in prison.
A recent bill introduced to the New York State Senate is the Prison Minimum Wage Act. This act requires that incarcerated workers’ wages be at least $3 an hour for any work program in which they may be involved. The bill also requires that workers receive compensation for all hours worked, without any deductions for basic needs such as phone calls, breaks or medical services. While this bill does not provide prisoners with true compensation for their work, passing the Prison Minimum Wage Act is the first of many steps toward ending the long-standing system of prison labor in New York State.
However, more must be done to truly acknowledge prisoners’ contributions to society and their humanity. Legislation needs to be introduced to ensure work in prisons is truly voluntary, conditions are safe and regulated, and that barriers to employment, such as restrictions that bar people with conviction records from work in the very fields they trained in while incarcerated, are struck down. When incarcerated people are provided with jobs that provide them a real skill set, vocational training and fair wages, it becomes easier for them to reintegrate into society and find employment after release.
WSN’s Opinion section strives to publish ideas worth discussing. The views presented in the Opinion section are solely the views of the writer.
Contact Mehr Kotval at [email protected].
