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What do Prisoner's Make for Victoria's Secret? A news article...Submitted by vkitty17 on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 5:31pm.
Read and form your own opinion, but... It doesn't say this in the article, but it seems to me that slavery is alive and well in America. Link: What Do Prisoners Make for Victoria's Secret? NEWS: From Starbucks to Microsoft: a sampling of what US inmates make, and for whom By Caroline Winter July/August 2008 Issue Tens of thousands of US inmates are paid from pennies to minimum wage—minus fines and victim compensation—for everything from grunt work to firefighting to specialized labor. Here's a sampling of what they make, and for whom. Eating in: Each month, California inmates process more than 680,000 pounds of beef, 400,000 pounds of chicken products, 450,000 gallons of milk, 280,000 loaves of bread, and 2.9 million eggs (from 160,000 inmate-raised hens). Starbucks subcontractor Signature Packaging Solutions has hired Washington prisoners to package holiday coffees (as well as Nintendo Game Boys). Confronted by a reporter in 2001, a Starbucks rep called the setup "entirely consistent with our mission statement." Around the Big House: Texas inmates produce brooms and brushes, bedding and mattresses, toilets, sinks, showers, and bullwhips. Bullwhips? Windows dressing: In the mid-1990s, Washington prisoners shrink-wrapped software and up to 20,000 Microsoft mouses for subcontractor Exmark (other reported clients: Costco and JanSport). "We don't see this as a negative," a Microsoft spokesman said at the time. Dell used federal prisoners for PC recycling in 2003, but stopped after a watchdog group warned that it might expose inmates to toxins. Back to school: Texas and California inmates make dorm furniture and lockers, diploma covers, binders, logbooks, library book carts, locker room benches, and juice boxes. Patriotic duties: Federal Prison Industries, a.k.a. Unicor, says that in addition to soldiers' uniforms, bedding, shoes, helmets, and flak vests, inmates have "produced missile cables (including those used on the Patriot missiles during the Gulf War)" and "wiring harnesses for jets and tanks." In 1997, according to Prison Legal News, Boeing subcontractor MicroJet had prisoners cutting airplane components, paying $7 an hour for work that paid union wages of $30 on the outside. The law won: In Texas, prisoners make officers' duty belts, handcuff cases, and prison-cell accessories. California convicts make gun containers, creepers (to peek under vehicles), and human-silhouette targets. A stitch in time: California inmates sew their own garb. In the 1990s, subcontractor Third Generation hired 35 female South Carolina inmates to sew lingerie and leisure wear for Victoria's Secret and JCPenney. In 1997, a California prison put two men in solitary for telling journalists they were ordered to replace "Made in Honduras" labels on garments with "Made in the usa." Open wide: At California's prison dental laboratory, inmates produce a complete prosthesis selection, including custom trays, try-ins, bite blocks, and dentures. Constructive criticism: Prisoners in for burglary, battery, drug and gun charges, and escape helped build a Wal-Mart distribution center in Wisconsin in 2005, until community uproar halted the program. (Company policy says, "Forced or prison labor will not be tolerated by Wal-Mart.") On call: Its inmate call centers are the "best kept secret in outsourcing," Unicor boasts. In 1994, a contractor for gop congressional hopeful Jack Metcalf hired Washington state prisoners to call and remind voters he was pro-death penalty. Metcalf, who prevailed, said he never knew. Caroline Winter is an editorial intern at Mother Jones. I think there is a connection there to be explored for sure. Somewhere in the fact that we have more people in prison than any other nation (I am almost sure this is a fact, perhaps not in number but in proportion to the population) there lies an interesting connection...and I wouldn't discount what Mercury says below either (the fact that someone thought "well, there are a lot of minority kids here and they are *naturally* going to end up largely incarcerated, so why don't we build prisons and use them as sources of cheap labor?" sickens me but I honestly don't doubt it. It's the kind of thing that big business calls "creative thinking"). I do think that MJ can tend to sit on that fine line between fact and sensationalism, though. It's sad, because they do expose some pretty profound issues, but I would like to see more backup to some of what they have to say. I have just started a book called "Nobodies" on the very real existence and use of slave labor in manufacturing and agricultural markets in the US (he also mentions that sex slavery is issue but that for many reasons, he felt that it was beyond the scope of that book to write about it). When I say "very real" I refer to court cases where people and companies have been convicted of, essentially, running businesses on slave labor. In the United states. why would you apologize? I love thinking. It sorts out feelings and lets me get to know myself and my online buds better. I like this stuff. I could use some feather ruffeling in my life. It bothers me when people make judgments off the bat without getting all of the information, which is exactly what I did here. After reading the comments that were left, I've changed my opinion. I'm glad to get more information! But I did feel like I jumped the gun and got all riled up without actually having all the info. I'm starting to learn that it's not only Fox News that fails to report on all the facts, but other news sources as well. I've had this problem with Mother Jones before, believe it or not. you have a right to your opinion. I intensely dislike discussing race on hipmama because of the vitriolic backlash I have experienced here, but I will make an exception in this case. The slavery analogy is apt when you consider that black people, in particular black men, are in prison disproportionate to population density: At midyear 2007 there were 4,618 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,747 Hispanic male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males and 773 white male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 white males. While personal accountability is very important and ultimately each prisoner is responsible for the actions that led them to prison, I think it is very important for every American, of every color/race/ethnicity, to understand how early on black males are targeted for incarceration. I will never forget reading in my local paper an article about a proposed prison in northeast ohio. In a multi-page spread it described in detail the future need for the jail as well as the profit to be made from the prisoners working at these jobs. Chilling? You bet, when I saw those graphs and charts clearly showing the race and ages of currently enrolled children in the various urban, mostly black and latino schools in northeast ohio, I was shocked to my core. In a nutshell the article was saying look here, we have this amount of black kids in all these shitty public schools; so we can predict that over 70% won't graduate high school, so we can predict x-amount of those drop-outs will commit crimes and become incarcerated. So we might as well build enough prisons to house them and also to make a profit off of them. This was an article I read in the early 1990s. I have read less blatant articles in many various papers a few times since. The primary reason I fled the inner city and moved to a suburb was because of the public schools. I had my daughter in the public school system for a few years prior to enrolling her in a private school, and I witnessed over and over and over again teachers treating black male students as if they were mini-criminals. For the slightest infractions, for stuff suburb and private school shrug off in white boys as 'typical boy behavior', I saw black boys in urban public schools severely chastised for, punished, and/or threatened with suspension, expulsion, and calling the police. We all know children rise or sink to the level of expectation. Let me be clear! I am not excusing grown men for their criminal activity. I am asking you to consider how your life would have turned out had you been treated like a criminal since kindergarten. How you might have turned out had your teachers not only expected you to drop out of school and become some crack-dealing low-life, but also told you that's what would become of you. Now all teachers/principles/administrators in this school system were not like this, but I am one black parent who refused to risk it. When it came time for my oldest son to go to kindergarten and he got wait-listed for several private schools and it looked like we'd have to put him in public school if only for a little while (home school is not an option for us), we got the heck out of dodge. I have yet to regret that decision because my sons, although racially isolated in the primarily white suburb we live in now, get to go to school and experience a normal childhood regular school life. No teacher is calling them lazy, or criminal, or crazy...their boyishness is seen as normal and not threatening. No one is saying they have ADD or have mental issues or need to be locked up; my oldest son is in 8th grade now and not once has any teacher threatened to call the police on him. These are things that black boys in the urban schools here routinely go though. Routinely! I will not trust my sons' hearts, minds, and souls to such a school system that was/is so blatantly in cahoots with the prison system. Especially in the light of everyone else's refusal to believe such collusion exists. I feel there is a deliberate crippling and attack on black children in this country, and part of that attack is the public school system that deliberately under educates them and treats them like criminals. Then there is the racially slanted judicial system itself. Illegal drug use is pretty consistent across racial groups, however black people are incarcerated at higher numbers. Why? In most states there are heavier sentences applied to drugs favored by blacks over drugs favored by whites. For example crack cocaine possession incurs a harsher penalty than powder cocaine. Yet they are both cocaine. The difference? Crack favored by blacks, powder by whites. Anyway. Knowledge is power, and I strongly urge all black americans to empower themselves. While we have heavier barriers to fight through still, at the end of the day each of us are individuals who can choose not to accept other people's labels and definitions and predictions; including refusing to accept this set-up for our children. MSPmedia not to mention theres alot of women out there raising these dudes kids who are grateful for the albiet crumbs they send through child support. Patriotic duties: Federal Prison Industries, a.k.a. Unicor, says that in addition to soldiers' uniforms, bedding, shoes, helmets, and flak vests, inmates have "produced missile cables (including those used on the Patriot missiles during the Gulf War)" and "wiring harnesses for jets and tanks." In 1997, according to Prison Legal News, Boeing subcontractor MicroJet had prisoners cutting airplane components, paying $7 an hour for work that paid union wages of $30 on the outside This is annoying. I come from a long line of bluecollar workers and I am married to a bluecollar worker, let me tell you that if there are any manufactoring jobs anymore that pay thirty bucks an hour, they are long since spoken for by the CEO's nephew, a friend, they are absolete to the people that walk in from the streets unless you are doing monkey work with a engineering degree, and in Michigan thats not even enough. What should criminals with no experience be getting paid to do brainless activities when they have food,clothing and shelter? Please. Puke. I find it interesting that it is *so horrible* that prisoners are getting paid almost the same amount as I made in my first job after GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE. Not to say that I am not conflicted on this prison/labor thing, I have my thoughts here too (for example, why is it that basic toiletries such as soap are not supplied and the prisoners must work to purchase them?), and I do think it is interesting to note that prisons can be a source of cheap(er) labor and that we have a huge percentage (relative to I think almost any other country in the world) of people in prison -- the article and the comments especially consider a connection between the two. On the other hand, if I were in prison, I would be grateful for something to do all day. And for the fact that the other inmates have something to do all day, as I would hate to be cooped up with a bunch of people who are pissed off AND bored. Or I guess more pissed off and more bored than they would be if they had absolutely nothing to do. What are other countries doing? Are people being trained, educated, is there a decent rehab program? I read with interest the blurb on the chino prison (sorry, insomnia got the best of me last night/this morning, and I have probably been spending WAY too much time on this, LOL) where people are trained in underwater welding -- when they get out, they can make over 100K per year. It would seem to me that giving people training for a job that pays real money (and therefore removes the necessity or perceived necessity of going back into illegitimate economies after release) might really help to lower the return rates. Or perhaps we could spend at least as much per child in school as we do per inmate in prison (about 50K per year) and we would then have an educated populace that might find ways to stay out of prison to begin with. But I'm sure they could find someone to tell you that after a cost-benefit analysis, that would not be a viable option. I actually have a family member in jail right now who is getting 2 months off of his 6 months sentence BECAUSE he is working in jail. "If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?" I think, run well, it could be great. I think making their own clothes, growing their own food, raising chickens and the like is great. There is such a large population in prisons, there could be a lot of cottage industry providing for the needs of prisoners. I am not sure of the quality control of a meat processing plant for the general population run out of a prison. I am skeptical of privately run prisons hired by privately run companies to make products to be sold for profit. I can see how this could be abused on many levels. Sunflower the unflower I LOVE what dahlia wrote and I wanted to add in something that I do know. In most prisons, you have to EARN your right to work and there is not enough jobs to go around. People are starving for the opportunity to do something with their nothing and feel prouductive. Thats a human NEED. And never take too much stock into what prisoners report. Instead of blaming themselves for being lazy losers who were dumb enough not to mention low enough to punch a pregnant woman in the face and try and steal her car, they generaly blame their ex boss, old girlfriend, the economy, the cops that they claimed beat them up, then the prison, then their PO officer THEY are always the victim forced into a life of crime. And they are the good guys who did what they did because of somebody else and everybody is always picking on them unjustly. *sigh* I know this because I used to have alot of friends in low places. Slavery? Come on, hardly. But here's the thing. In prison, a person NEEDS to have some money of their own on the books. They have to earn even the soap that they use. They have to work to keep the prison running. I don't see it as a bad thing that people are kept busy and working in prison; I've never heard of it being a forced thing though. You work or you don't get any extras, like soap. You work to get privileges like tv time, access to the weight room. And, some of this is training for jobs outside the prison. A lot of those jobs sound like things "unskilled" temps pick up for minimum wage or a little more to beef up their skill set. Temping is a good way for an ex-con to get by when they first get out, while looking for a full time job. It's really hard to get a job again after lockup; any skills they can gain will only be a good thing. Granted, I don't know many people who have been in prison; pretty much only through work. I didn't know any of them well; but mainly I talked with people about their experiences working in the prison and skills they gained. Maybe they weren't 100% honest about their feelings on the subject (after all, I was weeding out people before they got to the formal interview stage); but a lot of those guys 1. didn't care about getting a job before prison 2. didn't have legit marketable skills 3. gained legit skills in lockup 4. were very much given a choice in lockup - chill out in your cell and "be the same old knuckle-head that got stuck there in the first place" OR, do some work, put some money on the books and help out their girlfriend or wife on the outside and also gain some skills to help them survive on the outside. We hired a lot of guys that learned mechanics, welding and avionics, etc. via contracting. And they all claimed to do this by choice, their PO's said they were given those opportunities because of their good behavior and willingness. |
From just reading the article and having no other information on the topic, I just assumed these prisoners weren't being paid anything and were being forced to work for these companies for free. That's where I got the slavery idea from. But I see now that this is not the case, I had a lack of information, and you all know what happens when we assume.
Apologizing for my ignorance,
Vee Kitteh
http://startswithvee.wordpress.com