Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Highlights
id591458813
At the UNICOR Office Furniture Group factory in Allenwood, we assembled chairs and lounge seating for as little as 23 cents per hour; they were then sold for as much as $3,000 a piece.
✏️ Such an extreme version of capitalism thru prison slave labor basically. 🔗 View Highlight
id591458875
“What’s worse is that I understand that I am a part of American hypocrisy in action.” William’s viewpoint is common and discussed openly among incarcerated men. Yet at each of the four federal prisons where I served time, a UNICOR job was the most coveted. Along with the ability to make triple the pay of a regular prison job, UNICOR employment offered perks like eating first in the cafeteria and not being subject to lockdown in the event of a stabbing or riot. After all, there were deadlines to meet and deliveries to make, and nothing could get in the way.
✏️ The situation it puts people in is incredible. They know they’re being used as slave labor, they know they’re getting useful skills that will still get overlooked because of the felon label when they get out, but they still covet these jobs. They do it for the financial help, the skills, the mental escape from their situation and their families’, etc. The jobs offer perks that aren’t incentives so much as making sure nothing slows down their work productivity. (No lockdown, eating first, etc. all so that work deadlines are met) 🔗 View Highlight
id591459708
13th Amendment abolished slavery except for “as punishment for a crime,” prisons don’t need to use physical force or coercion to ensure the continuation of a cheap and slave-like workforce.
id591459885
“Maybe I’ve lost my dignity, or maybe I willingly gave it up,” he went on to say, “because every day I clock in ready to do my best.”