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A short history of prison labor -

The use of incarcerated people for cheap or free labor has been protected by the Constitution of the United States since the passing of the 13th Amendment in 1865. Ironically, this is the same amendment that abolished slavery and indentured servitude. However, one essential phrase provided a convenient loophole. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and indentured servitude "except as a punishment for a crime."

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A short history of prison labor -

With the 13th Amendment in place, inmates in the prisons of the United States started to be used for all sorts of manual labor. Everyone is familiar with the image of the chain gangs breaking rocks and digging trenches, but that's all in the past now, isn't it? Actually, the prison labor industry is still alive and well in the 21st century.

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Is prison labor voluntary? -

Prisons in the United States are vocal about their vocational programs that allow inmates to learn new skills that they can use to secure an income after their release, but those same prisons are much quieter about their expansive, often mandatory work programs that force inmates to engage in unskilled labor for long hours and virtually no pay, if any.

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How much do inmates get paid? -

Not all states are required to pay their prison laborers, voluntary or otherwise, anything at all, and the ones who are obliged only pay workers an hourly wage of 25 cents, or in some cases up to US$1.15. This income is taxed and also has portions taken out to go towards room and board costs of the prison. The average inmate subjected to involuntary labor is lucky to make US$100 a month.

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What happens if you say no? -

Inmates who resist mandatory labor are subject to penalties and abuse at the hands of both prison guards and the law itself. As stipulated in the 13th Amendment, involuntary labor is protected as a legal form of punishment. Therefore, inmates relinquish their right to refuse to work the moment they are incarcerated.

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Who hires inmates? -

Only a few US companies directly procure the services of prison labor from private prisons, while most contract their work out to Federal Prison Industries, better known as UNICOR, a government-owned organization that then divvies out the labor to publicly-owned penitentiaries.

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Military body armor -

The United States Department of Defense is one of UNICOR's best customers. Inmates subjected to involuntary servitude within the public US prison system produce military armor, helmets, uniforms, and much more for wages ranging from minuscule to non-existent.

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Patriot missiles -

Prisoners put to work by UNICOR have even been forced to aid in the creation of instruments of war. Patriot missiles that have been used in highly controversial attacks by the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia have been built using components put together by involuntary laborers.

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Police armor and uniforms -

Domestic police forces also take advantage of UNICOR's impossible-to-beat low prices. Numerous states rely on their prison workforces to keep up the supply of uniforms and protective gear.

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McDonald's uniforms -

But of course, it's not only government agencies who dip into the deliciously cheap labor of the American prison system. Other giants such as McDonald's have indirectly profited off of involuntary laborers in Oregon to stitch and sew uniforms for their own underpaid employees.

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Microsoft product packaging -

Microsoft has also come under fire for "in-sourcing" the packaging of their products to Exmark, a company built on the backs of prison laborers.

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Victoria's Secret products -

Victoria's Secret has also been caught, on multiple occasions, profiting from prison labor, allegedly without their knowledge. First in the 1990s when their textiles subcontractor, Third Generation, was rightly accused of contracting out the sewing of Victoria's Secret products to a private prison in South Carolina. Sometime later, two inmates in a California prison were punished and placed in solitary confinement for speaking out about being forced to replace "Made in Honduras" tags on Victoria's Secret garments with "Made in the USA" stickers.

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Car parts -

Simple car parts for everyone from Honda to GM are also commonly produced by prisoners across the nation.

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Blue jeans -

In prisons within the United States and abroad, denim jeans are well known to be stitched by prisoners. American retailers JC Penny and K-Mart have both been known to utilize prison labor from private prisons in Tennessee. In Oregon, a company known as Prison Blues proudly boasts that 80% of their incarcerated workers' wages are withheld.

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Call centers -

The prison labor industry, like every other industry, makes sure to keep up with the times. Today, inmates do much more than manual labor. They also work as customer service representatives for both government organizations and private companies. New York's own Department of Motor Vehicles uses a team of prisoners to manage their phone calls, as do other companies like Microsoft.

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Processed meat for mass consumption -

It shouldn't come as a surprise that vast quantities of the low-grade, ground meat used by so many of America's fast food chains are processed by inmates, oftentimes against their will.

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Park benches -

One of the less heinous prison labor programs is Florida's Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises program, or PRIDE. PRIDE is voluntary, and nearly 70% of its participants land jobs after prison. PRIDE is responsible for great portions of Florida's park benches, picnic tables, and other park amenities.

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Ball caps -

Another product that UNICOR uses free and occasionally involuntary prison labor for is baseball caps. UNICOR is usually only allowed to sell products to other government agencies, but ball caps are, for some reason, the exceptional product that they can sell in the private market.

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Death row greeting cards and charming souvenirs -

California's San Quentin Prison State Prison is notorious for having the largest death row out of any prison in the country. Just to make things even more dystopic, the prison gift shop is full of cutesy souvenirs made by prison inmates, ranging from music boxes to paintings. Visitors can even buy greeting cards written and decorated by inmates awaiting execution.

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Shooting targets -

UNICOR is also the main supplier of silhouette shooting targets for organizations like Homeland Security, the FBI, and numerous police departments.

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Braille books -

A voluntary prison work program run by the American Printing House for the Blind employs convicts to help transcribe everything from novels to textbooks and music into braille.

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"Cage free" eggs -

Arizona's largest egg producer, Hickman's Family Farms, has ironically boasted their ethically responsible "cage-free" eggs. The people who work for Hickman's, however, aren't exactly cage-free. Large portions of Hickman's workforce are made up of Arizona prisoners, and numerous lawsuits have been filed against the company in recent years for everything from negligence to failure to provide proper medical care.

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Canoes -

Colorado Correction Industries is one of America's most notorious prison labor programs and runs over 60 work programs across the state that include agricultural work and even the production of fiberglass canoes. As recently as 2021, prisoners in over 20 Colorado state prisons have sued the Department of Corrections for forced labor. The inmates claimed that when they refused to give up free labor, their parole hearings were pushed back and they were placed in living conditions worse, smaller, and less hygienic than the ones they had previously maintained.

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Potatoes, tomatoes, and tons of other produce -

Some of the most common involuntary prison labor in the United States comes in the form of agricultural labor. Alongside underpaid and exploited undocumented immigrants, American prisoners work for a fraction of the minimum wage, frequently against their will, in order to put food on the tables of the nation. 

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Whole Foods brand tilapia -

The upscale grocery chain Whole Foods, owned by Amazon, has always boasted about its strict code of ethics. But their tilapia supplier, Arrowhead Fisheries, involves Colorado Correctional Industries in practically every step of the process, from initial fish farming to the packaging.

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Wine grapes -

30% of the grapes used for Holy Cross Abbey's award-winning wines are harvested by prisoners in the Colorado prison system and put to work by Colorado Correctional Industries.

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Circuit boards -

Private prisons across the country make a pretty penny putting their inmates to work building circuit boards for some of the largest electronics companies in America, including IBM, Dell, and Intel. In 2021, Intel released a statement declaring they would stop using prison labor to support their business.

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What can be done? -

The prison labor industry produces around US$11 billion in goods and services every year, making it a monster that won't go down easily. But, as with all matters concerning social change, educating yourself and spreading the word will only bring us closer to a more just society. 

Sources: (Mental Floss) (Wired) (Mother Jones)

See more: The reality of life in a Victorian workhouse

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