Before someone says “but they do get paid!”, no, they do not. Not only is the minimum wage ($7.25) already unliveable, they make only about 13 to 52 cents an hour. Some states literally don’t pay them at all. And those that do: that’s not pay, that’s legal loophole games. And that 13 cents an hour? Most of it goes to “taxes, room and board expenses, and court costs”. That’s right, they have to pay to be slaves. ↩︎
They aren’t given enough calories to survive. The 13 cents an hour is almost all used on Ramen noodles from the commissary in order to avoid starvation and death.
I’m not joking about this if anyone thinks so. Ramen noodles are an active currency and vital food source in US prisons ever since Cigarettes were banned.
Louisiana has one of the highest incarcerations rates in the country (ergo the World by statistical margins) and free prison labor is major staple of their prison industry.
Not to mention that private prisons literally have contracts with the State to make sure they provide enough prisoners to fill up their beds at all times or the State MUST PAY THEM A FINE. WTFFFF. Quote from the source below:
"
Roughly three-quarters of private prison contracts include minimum occupancy clauses (also known as “bed guarantees”) which “…state that the government contracting with a prison must maintain a specific percentage of occupancy at that prison” (American University Business Law Review). A study of private prison contracts by the Brennan Center for Justice found that “…the majority of these contracts guarantee that the state will supply enough prisoners to keep between 80 and 100 percent of the private prisons’ beds filled. If the state fails to fulfill this ‘bed guarantee’, it must pay a fine to the company running the prisons – in effect, paying for each prison bed regardless of whether it holds a prisoner.”
"
Source:
Prison Contracts: Profits & Politics
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They do chain them up and work them, they just don’t pick cotton anymore, they build military equipment, staff call centers, and build furniture, producing products worth $11B a year with no pay[1].
Before someone says “but they do get paid!”, no, they do not. Not only is the minimum wage ($7.25) already unliveable, they make only about 13 to 52 cents an hour. Some states literally don’t pay them at all. And those that do: that’s not pay, that’s legal loophole games. And that 13 cents an hour? Most of it goes to “taxes, room and board expenses, and court costs”. That’s right, they have to pay to be slaves. ↩︎
They aren’t given enough calories to survive. The 13 cents an hour is almost all used on Ramen noodles from the commissary in order to avoid starvation and death.
I’m not joking about this if anyone thinks so. Ramen noodles are an active currency and vital food source in US prisons ever since Cigarettes were banned.
Louisiana has one of the highest incarcerations rates in the country (ergo the World by statistical margins) and free prison labor is major staple of their prison industry.
‘You’re a slave’: Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt
Not to mention that private prisons literally have contracts with the State to make sure they provide enough prisoners to fill up their beds at all times or the State MUST PAY THEM A FINE. WTFFFF. Quote from the source below:
" Roughly three-quarters of private prison contracts include minimum occupancy clauses (also known as “bed guarantees”) which “…state that the government contracting with a prison must maintain a specific percentage of occupancy at that prison” (American University Business Law Review). A study of private prison contracts by the Brennan Center for Justice found that “…the majority of these contracts guarantee that the state will supply enough prisoners to keep between 80 and 100 percent of the private prisons’ beds filled. If the state fails to fulfill this ‘bed guarantee’, it must pay a fine to the company running the prisons – in effect, paying for each prison bed regardless of whether it holds a prisoner.” " Source: Prison Contracts: Profits & Politics