Investigation finds U.S. prison labor linked to popular food brands
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- A new investigation found that several popular U.S. food companies are benefiting off of prison labor. NBC News' Valerie Castro talks to Investigative Reporter Robin McDowell about the findings in the report.
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#nbcnews #prisonlabor #prison
Keep in mind, these same companies keep raising prices, blaming it on costs of labor increases while they’re getting free labor
Honestly they're raising prices because the dollar is becoming less and less valuable as we print more and more of it. That's what inflation is.
Wrong again, Sibz@@joetrolo7076
@joetrolo7076 There are two types of inflation: demand pull and cost push. cost push represents a larger portion of the inflation in the US over the last few years. It's increased cost such as companies artificially raising prices which lead to workers demanding higher wages to compensate for their falling purchasing power. Before you open your mouth and repeat cooperate talking points open a first year economics book and do some reading! For the love of God!
If they're good enough to be forcibly put to work while in prison (even as volunteer firefighters), why are they viewed as unemployable AFTER paying their debts to society?
Cuz the slave owners need their slaves to come back to work.
O. That make sense to me let me explain. 🥶
Excellent point👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Because they can't rob you while they're incarcerated?
@@E1VM Not everyone goes to prison for robbery. It's actually a small minority of people. Non-violent drug offenses are generally the largest share of charges. Regardless, making life even harder for someone who was incarcerated is dumb on so many levels, and it's unethical to essentially keep punishing someone long after they have served the time decided by our courts. Some people are just going to be perpetual f-up's, and there is no getting through to them until they are ready to change. In most units, they are the minority though. It's fine to be cautious, but trying to talk down to people who got dealt a way different hand than you did in life doesn't make you look good.
It's one thing for inmates to make license plates, fix roads/potholes. (Things that benefit the state/society.) It's another thing to do jobs solely for profit, for private corporations. For profit companies are profiting from forced labor? It isn't right.
Good point.
At the very least compensate them a little more so they can come out with enough to support themselves I think
I guarantee every single one of those inmates loves their job. Nobody interviewed any of them asking how they feel about it.
I’m sure some of the prisoners are just to make something and get commissary and hygiene
@@BiggRoscoe you're going nowhere because you suffer from Dunning-Kruger syndrome
American corporations would rip off God himself
they already do that in his name..hey you got a 10...I need to talk to god
God doesn't pay taxes because he's aways broke.
They do, it's called church lol
This is why Donald Trump is such a bad representation of America, and I say that as a Republican, some people would rip off God and they own mom to make a profit. Every American CEO is that greedy and that’s why a businessman should never be the president.
If possible, yes.
And God would gladly pay if corporations pay their taxes and dues…
This is a kind of a conflict of interest. Why would you parole anybody if you were making money off of them.
They give them unreasonably long sentences to keep the chain gang going.
Of course they use the cheapest legit labor. Using slaves is infinitely cheaper than using migrant labor, plus it’s TOTALLY LEGAL.
It’s not like the products are cheaper, the share holders just MAKE MORE MONEY. There isn’t any discount anywhere, just benefits and bonuses for everyone that’s already loaded.
Yup. Rich gotta rich. That's just how it be. 💪😎✌️
You know they more than likely take advantage of all kinds of government programs, incentives, rebates and whatever else to get taxpayer .oney, and then they probably operate as tax exempt "not for profit" so that they don't even need to carry the expense of shareholder dividends or income taxes. They simply operate as massive payroll machines for the c-suite.
Wow
they should be paying the state a fair wage or at least min wage. back into the system at least give it back for education ..some are going to get out some day and will need a trade.. but it is set up to bring them back....NY has a prison shop the make lic.plates..jail cloths ..soup..they get a buck or 2 a day..Im sure some dont mind it makes time go by ..but then you have the slave wage thing...what happened to doing hard time..busting rocks..
Plus they get all the tax writeoffs..should be paying at least minimum wage..cost taxpayers to keep them there..and have skills programa to help train for when they released...not free labor for companies..
“Labor program” but if it happens in a foreign country it’s a “forced labor program”
Fun facts: Florida total population: 21 million. total number of people who have been incarcerated: 1.6 million. that's one out of every 13 people. That is among the highest percentage in the United States. I was incarcerated in Florida twice. Once for bouncing a fifty dollar check and a second time for not getting advanced permission from my probation officer (= to a parole officer in Florida) to be laid off from a job. I did a total of two years. I worked at a food warehouse that was allegedly selling food to other prisons around the country, that's the official story. 70% of the food we shipped out was sent to commercial food distribution centers, meat packing plants etc. I know because I was the clerk who for that year wrote up the shipping labels. We didn't have computers in those days. At the time the prison system had cattle ranches, swine farms, poultry farms, corn fields, other grain fields, hundreds of acres of fruit orchards, vegetable fields. 100% of everything we ate we grew or someone in the prison system grew. I was paid 15 cents an hour. Based on our observation, the Florida prison system pays for itself. They were getting over $35,000 a year per inmate from the federal government. That was at a time when the correctional officers were earning about $14,000 a year. That would work out to about 2 1/2 guard per inmate but it was more like one guard for every twenty inmates total where I was. I don't think even death row had 2 1/2 guards per inmate. so that federal government money must have been a windfall for the prison system. There are towns in Florida where almost 100% of the employed population are employed by the prison system. In fact, the Florida prison system is one of the state's most lucrative businesses. So combine that with being completely self sufficient in virtually all things except perhaps utilities and I'm not sure about that. When I was there almost 40 years ago they were talking about the construction of their own power plants. We had our own lumber mill. Most of the homes in the towns where the prisons are located were built with prison labor and the lumber used came from prison own forestry and mills. We made our own uniforms, correctional officer uniforms all our shoes etc. I think the only thing the prisoners didn't make was the concrete and steel and wiring etc. And even then we built everything using those materials. If the prison system in Florida gets any state tax money at all then someone needs to look into corruption. In fact they need to do so anyways. Ever hear of the Shawshank Redemption? Its like that only probably worse.
And then there is the racial disparity. 3.381 million Blacks in the state. That comes to 16% of the state's population. But 48% of felons are Black.
So 7.6% of the population are felons.
23% of Black people are felons
4% of White people are felons.
This disparity is the result of higher conviction rates for Black people who have fewer resources. Also when I was in the county jail waiting for my court dates I worked as a trusty in the jail law library. Prior to that I was a trusty delivering meals to the cells. More than half of the inmates were black. Our county was 13% Black. In six months as the trusty in charge of the law library I never once saw a black face in there. We had an average of about 20 inmates a day come to the law library and almost all were white with the occasional Hispanic or Asian. There were no Black trustees in that jail. We had over 100 total trustees in the trusty system. We were told that no Black inmates ever applied for that paid position (10 cents per hour). I personally knew of at least twenty Black inmates who applied for the trustee jobs. This was in the 1980's not the 1930's. Jim Crow was alive and well in Florida in the 1980's it was just more subtle. Also about 80% of the violence that I witnessed both in the jail and the prison were correctional officers beating on Black inmates and next were White prisoners beating on Black prisoners. I'm white so I think I am giving a fair accounting.
I did have a rather disturbing conversation with one older correctional officer around 1985. First he admitted that every adult male and most of the women were card carrying members of the KKK. Second he admitted that the entire system was intended to enslave as many Blacks as possible (not his exact words which I will NOT repeat here as I wish to keep my account from being suspended). He told me he had been working for the prison system since he got back from Germany in WWII. He told me that within the yard the guards used to burn crosses just to keep the Black inmates in line. He admitted that he was witness to more than one lynching while in the Klan. He also admitted that the reason all the White inmates were lined up to eat separately before the Blacks were because we were given better food and they didn't want the Black inmates to see or know about it which is also why there were no Black inmates working in the kitchen. This again was 1985 not 1935. Coming from liberal New England I was in shock by the entire system. Even the Blacks called the prison farms "The Plantations."
On a completely unrelated side note, elements of Jim Crow are still alive in Florida. I pass by a desecrated Black cemetery every day on my way to work. It is but one of hundreds in the state where they simply closed the cemetery and told the families they moved the bodies but instead they simply left the bodies and built over them. Nearly every historic Black cemetery in Florida that existed prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been destroyed and built upon including at least a dozen in my county and three in my city. They government knows about it but has decided it would cost to much to take the property by eminent domain and restore the cemeteries back to their original conditions. But it's not too much money to spend over $15 million to renovate a waterfront public park and make it paid admission only at up to $500 a head for concerts and other events. It used to be anyone could just go and sit under a tree and read a book. But now you need to be rich to go there. They took away one of the few public parks the low income residents could access. Every public park in the county worth going to costs money either in parking or admission. Originally the enacted admission fees to public parks in 1965 as a way to keep Black people out of those parks knowing that most Black people can't afford to pay the admission. Prior to 1965 they simply had signs up saying "NO COLORDS ALLOWED."
Horribly sad but this is true.
100% right
You should write a book and get it self-published if no publisher wants to pick it up. Expose the truth!
Unbelievable sick !! Write about this share world wide & protect yourself .
KKKK = Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. four K's not three
Same companies screwing you out at the checkout as well.
Grow your own food. LOL!!! Problem is, you aren;t even capable of doing so. LOL!!!
@@GregLakatosChradm Keep laughing funny man! 🤡
Did you teach these people you are talking to how to grow their own food or are you just being hateful?
@@GregLakatosChradmAnyone can learn because It’s as easy as looking it up on the internet and you’re being unnecessarily nasty.
@@1_star_reviewsSure thing snowflake.
And food is high priced! Talk about RIP OFF
lol and I just bought a basket of bell peppers to give out for free
Your food prices in the US are 30 to 100% higher than in Europe.
Greedy companies
@@brazendesigns it's 😔 terrible , filled with pesticides GMOs and terrible tasting from cold storage and long food miles
Now I know why some states want it to be against the law to be homeless. They need more warehouse workers.
It's true, when states started legalizing marijuana many of these prisons complained about losing a large percentage of their work force and they needed to come up with a quick and easy solution to get back their workers.
They cost taxpayers money and cause crime rates to go up.
Bingo!!!
That’s terrible.
3:00 "A lot of things that are legal are not necessarily right." Word.
And food is still expensive
Makes no sense
These companies use the cheapest labor possible under the law but I bet their prices have only gone up over the past 3 years. Capitalism has almost perfected itself.
This isn't capitalism, it's corporatism. We need to return to biblical capitalism where "the worker is deserving of his wages." Resorting to communism or socialism is simply giving up on a system that has been known to work for many ages.
Prisons, homelessness, and drug addiction are some of the largest businesses in America.
Lots of money in those endeavors.
Crime in general is big business. USA has the power to almost obligate crime but that would shutdown soooo many jobs and hinder things like the insurance industry and even healthcare
FAX
We certainly do not care about our people enough in this country. What is chilling to me besides forced labor is that half of the voting population is "pro life" What they really are is political. It's an area of contention that makes them seem like they care about human life while in most southern states & rural areas the healthcare is very substandard. Life expectancy for poor populations is an early death sentence & many states choose not to participate in federal government programs like Medicare expansion which is 90% funded by uncle Sam. To me that is completely ignorant. Pick a side. You can't say you're pro-life on one hand then refuse to participate in the summer SNAP program that helps feed underprivileged children.
Profits over life" when the rate of corporate return outweighs the benefits of the society the legislators will continue empowering themselves
Religion is big business too.
In Alabama the sheriffs are given an annual budget for feeding and housing prisoners which becomes a totally discretionary account that the elected sheriff can even legally use to buy a boat, or a beach house, or pay his mortgage, or put his side piece up in an apartment, or travel to vegas.
Gadsden, Alabama Etowah County Sheriff has a beach house in Gulf Shores because of this.
@@LuckyFrog-sp8gx I'm sure the sheriff worked hard to get into that postion so he could buy a beach house with somebody else's money. After all that hard work, he deserves a little vacation time at your expense.
@@100perdidono the above comment is true. I live in Alabama and we are aware of this. A simple Google search will tell you that the comment is true
That's not how a budget between an SO and the fiscal court.
@@TracieAllen-l2t he was being sarcastic
So what. I did almost 11 years in a US prison and it was a privilege to have a job. It didn't pay much but it gave me something to do and taught me some work ethic.
I got out 15 years ago and haven't been back, I've had the same job almost 14 years with perfect attendance. I like to think prison taught me something.
Yes sir! Good for you for being able to turn things around.
You weren't in those fields not getting paid at all. You probably wouldn't last a week in the fields. Why did you have to go to prison to learn how to keep a job? Sounds like a personal problem to me.
Good job my bro just got out I hope he is as successful and don't mind the trolls ppl always hating for no reason
@@jwatt247 ? What trolls and hating on who? All of the criticism here is to corporations that are paying less than a dollar per hour for slave labor. At the very least they should receive a bit more compensation that they can use
@@AnonymousDumboOctopus if you don't see it then don't worry about it I saw a comment that in my opinion was trolling and I like how you disregarded the point of the comment tho 😑
That's why I've always taught my children that slavery has never ended in this country! That's the number one reason why so many black and brown people are incarcerated! Slavery is just called prison now.
The civil war concluded and slavery was codified into the 13th amendment rather than abolished....I've also seen arguments that the revolutionary war was fought, in part, to maintain slavery in the US while it was being abolished elsewhere in the world...Jefferson's draft was only ratified after 89 congressional revisions that cleansed the draft of any references to slavery...
Also George Washington hated slaves and was only willing to free his as stipulation in his will after his death... Which, to me, and given his stature and renown, is a profound way of saying "I'd rather die than live to see slaves free".......in the land of the free.....
Here in Florida where I live 23% of Black people have been incarcerated at some point in their life and that also means that 23% of Black people can't vote. Only 4% of White people have been incarcerated and so only 4% of White people can't vote for the same reason. 16% of our general population is Black. So that comes to 4% of potential voters can't vote here. I'm White and I was incarcerated twice in the prison system. That was 40 years ago and we had one old correctional officer who at the time admitted that he was not only a member of the Klan but was proud of it and stated that most of the guards also were. Neither time I was there did I see a single Black correctional officer. The prison was also segregated. Jim Crow was alive and well. Probably still is. Scroll up to see a far more detailed account of the racial disparity that I witnessed in prison which most of the Black inmates at the time called "The Plantation" and for a very good reason. Also, while in prison many of us had paid jobs. I had a paid job and was paid 10 cents an hour. Nearly all the White inmates had paid jobs. Almost none of the Black inmates at the time had paid jobs. If they wanted to ever be released they had to put in a forty hour work day unless it was on one of the many farms in the prison system and in such cases the farm workers worked from sunrise to sunset seven days. That's an average of 84 hours per week. I worked at the food warehouse where we shipped food all over the country mostly to commercial companies to sell to the public and I only ever worked 40 hours and as I said, got paid and I also had holidays off. We were told that the reason the field hands had to work such long hours and every day was because the food needed to be cared for, watered, fed, fertilized etc. We all recognized it for what it was, slavery. But just because I am white does not mean I had any power to do anything about it at the time. I don't know how it is now but I doubt it is much better. Entire towns rely on the prison system for the economy some having over 95% of the adults in the town employed by the prison system.
@@nunyabiznez6381 Thank you for sharing that. I hope more people read it.🙏
They're learning a trade and not laying in a cell. What's wrong with that?
With rare exceptions (e.g. I've heard that voluntary slavery exists in parts of the BDSM community) throughout history slavery has been involuntary. For the most part, again with rare exceptions, people in prison are there because of something they chose to do. Taxpayers are then forced to provide food and shelter for them, along with the other expenses of running a prison. Do the taxpayers thus qualify as slaves for this purpose?
And we were taught that slavery was abolished in 1865. Guess that is a lie.
there is a expecting from prisoners in jail actually. but they can't be beaten and killed like actual slaves are it just states they could be forced to work without pay.
@@Djreactions831 I am certain that it is a very beneficial expectation for prisoners to have to work but their efforts should benefit the TAX PAYERS and NOT huge corporations. Prisoners could be trained to do all kinds of public service and manufacturing work that would directly benefit the public. One example that does already exist is having prisoners pick up trash along the road sides.
@@Nagroddy I 110% agree with you they committed crimes against humanity so it only right for them to repay humanity not some random rich guy. They should be picking up trash, repairing roads and bridges, not working at cereal and chicken factories.
Slavery didn't end back in 1865, all they did was just add a couple steps and change some terminology and they carried on like usual as if nothing happened at all. We still have slavery and slaves we just call them Incarceration and Inmates and there are privately owned plantations we just call them Penitentiaries.
Don't give up on history at that point. Paying taxes in American society was the follow up of slavery also, it didn't exist until after the civil war.
All revolutionary bounds were made against the taxes of European Kings and Lords.
Reconstruction saw that property owners in the south had to pay in gold to keep their lands even though they had mostly traded commodities and labor before then.
The whole of America toils on the corporations' increasingly brutal plantations.
@@hpensive in 1899 income tax was deemed unconstitutional. then a new set of scotus's in 1912 decided income tax is ok. the in 1913 the jays created counterfeit currency and the government accepted it as national currency then in 1914 the jays began ww1 then tanked the economy in 1928 and in 1939 began ww2 and took our gold , and in 1960s took away silver in 1958 the jays wrote up a contract that the usa had to sell them silver and gold at set prices. then fort knox was emptied . ww3 has begun: chrisrians against muslims and the jays sit back watching and laffing .
it is good to put the prisoners to work, but they also need the be protected too. also, they need to let the prisoners put their wages into a bank, so when they get out of jail, they can have some money to support themselves while looking for a job to reintegrate back into society...
FAX
Prisoners do not mind working, the problem is there is not enough payment to even buy decent hygiene items, let alone commissary!
Some of these for-profit prisons make work mandatory for certain inmates. For instance my home jail was full, so they shipped me to a private for-profit jail a county away. Since I was already sentenced and considered minimum security, they made working in the kitchen mandatory. I would work 8 hour shifts at a minimum 5 days a week so 40 hours. They paid us $1 a day no matter how many hours we worked. $5 a week isn't going to get you much. It's just enough to make one 20 minute phone call. And that's what I did every week, work 40+ hours so I could call my children for 20 minutes.
@@johnjackson8709People popping off about things they didn’t know anything about just no compassion at all.
@@johnjackson8709
i understand and i know too!
i dont know anyone to confirm it, but i am happy that you confirm my research and analyzing the data i found is accurate. thank you mr john!
when i say prisoners should put to work, not as slavery, but as an actual human being working to make money like everyone else at least min wage.
unfortunately our system will not change, cause this way, there will be less prisoners and the people who runs prisons to profit from it will no longer make money. imagine all the prisoners can learn a trade in prison and work at min wage, so when they get out of prison, they actually have money to support themselves to find a job to reintegrate back into society.
the root cause of the problem in our country is the system itself, cause the top 1% is the actual people that is running our country, not the gov itself.
if we really wanna change the system, we all have to unite to stand up together...
hopefully this day will come for the betterment of humanity to move forward....
I was just released from a prison work camp, it was a 6 month thing and that’s the max they can sentence you there, they worked us and there was no pay at all not even for your commissary. Yes this is a real thing I don’t think much of the public thinks of.
As a prisoner these "laws" are what the "chains" were before the civil war.
The civil war wasn't a revolution.
Before 1776? What revolution are you referring to?
@@Jason-rn4jkrevolution wow how'd you get that from civil?
whats your point @@Jason-rn4jk
True! It's a known fact that The American prison population exploded after slavery was abolished. This is also when the policing system was implanted. America has always been at war with and actively attempting to destroy African Americans. The sad part is we've not only allowed it we actively participate in our own destruction with this hip hop Rap culture that glamorizes all the most debased dysfunctional disgusting parts of humanity.
Our country is one big prison!
Angola is modern-day slavery. I've heard a lot of stories about them working in that field 🙏
And at the Warden's house, just like the good ole days, nothing has changed but the era
It's crazy how they're reporting it like its never happened before & the term "Prison Industrial Complex" never existed.
And if they don't work, they are put in solitary confinement and not allowed to be in contact with their family. Prisoners are charged outrageous prices to use phones so that they can call their family. The American prison system is barbaric.
That probably explains the amount of recalls we've had this past year
It’s been this way since 1600’s 😂
especially the ones pertaining to e-coil & hep A 🤢
For real bro
Its a good cause that you can work while in prison, i know these people have been caught doing a crime, but they deserve to have a worthy life, including work. But to be slaves for corporations to make big dollars, thats sickening.
Nah, most people in prison are sickos.
They should be put to work doing things that are for the public good, not to line the pockets of corporate America. That labor could be used to fix infrastructure, improve parks and recreation facilities, make gravel, clean up roadsides, and all kinds of other things.
@@Knutella17 Playing devil's advocate here. What alternative do you propose? An enforced staycation for the prisoners; adult time out paid for by the people following laws? Very few people have the means to support themselves without some form of employment. Why exactly should breaking the social contract be a free pass not to work to pay your bills? The problem in my opinion isn't requiring labor of the imprisoned. Instead it is in funneling young men toward prison in the first place through poor upbringing and lack of a positive future. The primary fault for crime lies with the criminal, but it is hardly a surprise that people stray from the straight and narrow when they see no real future doing things the right way
@@grben9959 less rules might help. that and giving us back our right to be judge jury and executioner .
Get it straight, its modern day slavery in america. If you look at the law it's stated that slavery is illegal, unless you are in prison. It literally states that you can and will be a slave in prison. You make 15 cents an hour. 😅
No get it straight, when you are incarcerated you are state property. Property, meaning you can do what you want to with it.
Two different things man, incarceration for crimes against the US in whole, is not even close to slavery
When you have private prison corporations with stock prices on the ticker. Guess what more prisoners means ??
Prisoners should work. They should grow their own food to have good healthy meals and supply school, hospitals homeless shelters,etc at just enough profit to give them the basics for a normal existence. Taking their freedom is the punishment. Not giving them a TV and radio in their cells is just cruel. Other prisoners with marketable skills should be allowed to work and get paid with time off where applicable. That would save taxpayers and put money into the upkeep and operation of the continuing education programs. We need to make the prisoners better human beings not better criminals.
100%
I was on a prison farm. Ferguson unit in Texas. I've watched the make people pick cotton by hand. We grew cotton corn & raised bulls and pig's. And no we were not paid.
You shouldn't have been. You were there for punishment, not vacation.
That's insane
I visited my cousin there in 2000 and I was shocked by the cotton fields. It’s still seems crazy to me. People should atleast get paid.
@@karensuewhoa stipend saved to help when released makes sense, according to how diligently the individual worked.
@@junme1389punishment is great and all if it serves the purpose of reducing crime. But when it is harsher than necessary, it goes directly against the original purpose by worsening people's behavior. Stressed out people aren't great at learning to do better...the learning parts of the brain are almost completely shut off during chronic stress. This is why third world countries may stay crime-ridden despite harsh punishments where legs or hands are cut off.
What if any money they make be sent to the victims of their crimes?
yes to pay restitution to their victims 🤔
A lot of them are not in there for a crime against a person. Some are in there because they were railroaded in the system and couldn't pay the fees. I have seen people walking down the street and the police arrested them for not walking on the sidewalk and there are NO sidewalks. They have to fill those profit prisons for corporations to benefit off of modern day slavery.
I’m 28. When I was 18 I was sentenced to 2 years in prison in Greene county MS, close to Angola, LA and I can 100%. Inform that this is true. Had another inmate get cut by a lawnmower blade to where he couldn’t work and they gave him solitary for a month for not showing up two days in a row.
It’s forced labor. Aka slavery.
Why are prices still high with “American standard” wages ? These companies will need to be investigated with ATH profits can’t be double dipping us like this.
In other words, they're providing cheap or free labor to huge corporations who also get massive tax subsidies to monopolize the market with their brands.
AND they keep increasing their prices for consumers...😒
I could've told you about Hickmans. I use to work for a temp agency and we had to tell our employees they'd be working with prisoners
where was this, you sound like a woman I know
This is only a surprise or news to people who do not have major agriculture around them. This has been going on at least a hundred years in parts of our country and since the end of slavery in others.
Human rights violations.
They should be paid at least minimum wage. Prisons should not be for profit.
Yea if they work they should be paid. I’ve always figured that someone was getting rich off of those inmates. Taking advantage of the disadvantages of people.
The tax payer is feeding, housing and medicating them! That’s their paycheck, they’re criminals!
@@adamhuffman335413th Amendment
They also do the landscaping in government parks.
You're right! I was in the u.s park service for 25 years and every Monday I got 10 woman inmates to do the landscaping, they had a guard that watched the woman, all drug sentences
And yet they still raised the prices 990% over the past year.🤬
Prison labor was outlawed at one point. Now it is legal again. It was outlawed precisely because it was a way around slavery laws and, in fact, people were incarcerated often illegally as a way to get free labor. It was one thing to offer employment for a wage; it is another when they are punished for refusing.
Buy local, organic only!
This is REVOLTING!! The legislative branch should be held accountable for not updating the constitution sooner and pressed to do so asap.
you'd rather them be stuck in shtty prison than to put in an honest days work?
@@Grey_Shadows There is nothing honest on the company's part about slave labor.
@@Here4TheHeckOfIt Maybe you should grow your own food and quit expecting everyone to lay it at your doorstep for a few ratty pieces of green paper.
@@Grey_Shadows Hard to compete with slave labor
That will never happen. A lot of the so called representatives own stock in the above mentioned companies. Also the prison industrial complex is a big business. Big business runs America.
The issue isn't the prisoners working, it's the slave wages, lack of protection and safe work environment etc, the companies are making billions pocketing the profits. It's unethical at best and criminal at worse. They need to pay fair wages.
This is modern day enslaving, and we can't allow this to continue. Absolutely horrifying.
The 13th Amendment at work everyone, this is why GOP wants the border open as well.
Lol...the GOP doesn't want the border open. Gaslight much?
@@spankyssurprise1361 yes they do. They demonize migrants but dont want to solve the issue
@@spankyssurprise1361 lol thats why the GOP is refusing to work on a bill to close the border. Even the dems understand it’s a problem, and are willing to work on a solution. But when one side is going to do nothing IDK how you expect anything to get done.
@@StupidFoxInSpaceyeah you’re stupid Biden undid all the laws put in place under trump his first year you don’t need a bill to enforce the laws we already have
@@StupidFoxInSpace The house passed HR 2 over 200 days ago but the Senate won't take it up. The Senate bill to "close the border" does no such thing and is attached to funding for completely unrelated issues like the unwinnable war in Ukraine.
this is the REAL forced labor...
Bad look with sky rocketing food prices
Some of you don’t realize this is where those good factory jobs went………
Yep, Angola makes Louisiana politicians super rich. Prisoners are held past their time of due release just to feed the labor chain. Drug trafficking through catch, release, and then catching again in these prisons also runs rampant. Local township jails also profit off of those incarcerated by farming prisoners out to local businesses at below pay rate standards in Louisiana.
Chattle slavery was never truly banned in the usa, only regulated. Non-chattle slavery is still very much the norm; internships, serfdom(mortgages), serfdom(landlords), poverty wages (being paid less than a slave in food, shelter and other survival needs) etc.
Free labor and price gouging
you prefer to provide criminals and killers free resort?
I prefer not to pay a mortgage for groceries even though the labor was free 🎯
Meanwhile highways have trash all over them. Prison labor should not be "for profit" labor, but COMMUNITY SERVICE to local counties and governments. Private companies should not be allowed to profit from it.
Yet those corporations have raised the cost of the product as their cost of goods sold was reduced. It's shameful.
This is why companies want to pay YOU less, because they are paying and can pay someone pennies to do your job. All they need is to get you in jail. This is disgusting, terrifying and honestly, weird that we would accept this as a society.
Ava DuVernay covered this in her 2016 film, 13th. Slavery never ended in this country, it just evolved.--And there's no mistake that the prison population is disproportionately BLACK. This is by design
That just sounds like slavery with extra steps.
Unfit for human consumption
Slavery of another name....read the book.
It's the 13th Amendment, it's allowed thanks to GOP by farming the immigrants coming in so they don't want to stop the border
Greed at its finest👍🤬
In the pursuit of equality, society was supposed to deliver the abolition of slavery, but it instead delivered its expansion.
Put them to work. They are not in a position to necessarily ask for any labor laws protection 🤷♂️
They should give something back, at least to someone for that matter…
I do believe in work programs. Prison farms should feed the inmates. They need shops to make their needs (clothes, etc.). They should go back to making license plates, cleaning parks, etc.
WHY is nobody questioning how is this now all of a suddenly being exposed? These "inspections" are supposed to be frequent and random.
Now I know we're my craft Mac and cheese comes from.😂
Just put it on the label. --> "This product is the product of prison labor."
I feel sorry for all the black innocent people. ❤❤❤❤❤
If you're suprised, you're not paying attention.
Sounds perfectly legal by the letter of the law.
Wow this is why they are pushing out farmers!! Unbelievable
Wait you said in the beginning these were voluntary classes to sign up for. You don't get paid if your a volunteering and b the intent is to reform and teach convicts new skills its basically a free workforce class theres also research out now saying that inmates who interact and care for animals do better in prison and reforming
There's a loophole in the 14th amendment; slavery is still legal
Better than being in a 23 hour cell locked up. What's the problem?
When you enter prison you literally just gave your life up. This is beyond slavery, inmates lost their choice to be free. If prisoners want to remain apart of society you don’t deserve our $15/hr first off, you deserve the most you can get even if it’s $3/hr you chose that lifestyle.
Many of them would rather be working for meager prison salaries than just sitting around in their dorms/cells. Idc what you say, having a job inside is a privilege and huge mental release for inmates. A man needs something to do.
It's not about the work itself it's the nonexistent pay and nonexistent labor protection
forced to work? my understanding is they can choose to work or not to work and are compensated for said work... what a wild statement to let fly
Don't go to jail.
Our healthcare, our educational institutions, our food, our water, our housing, our social security….soon it’ll all be in private hands.
I don't hear the prisoners complaining. They coming home with money in their pockets with no bills. My friend did 8 years. His last 3 he wrked in a cardboard plant. Made 11/hr. Came home with 41k. Started a business. Fixed up a few houses 12 years later he's worth at least 2 mill
How is the discussion not the prices we pay for food and who is being paid for the labor and are these privatized prisons or DOJ run???
I don't see a problem.
It's the 13th Amendment, literally slavery
@@newyorkpotioncastleit’s legal, they were convicted. Literally, involuntary servitude. We learned this in high school. Keep up.
America never lost her taste for free labor....go figure.
This lady is so dense. The purpose of prison is punishment. They are actually being compensated here as well as furthering their education and trade skills all of which would not happen if they were just sitting on their bunks. Not to mention the mental and physical health benefits they gain through being active instead of sitting in a cell all day. I know this because I did farm work for time off of my sentence in Florida and I couldn’t have been happier for that opportunity. I gained something back from
It and was able to contribute to a system that needed manpower. Also it costs to house inmates so them being productive actually helps the local economy. This woman has overlooked some significant factors in her argument.
Thank you, Governor Wallace.
You've left the plantation unguarded again, sheesh just go home.
It's Prison, NOT Community Service.
Can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Doing time does it mean slave labor!
@@shapursasan9019 according to the law they quoted yes.
@@jonnie2bad Well, if that’s the law - it needs to change. Slavery is immoral and against gods law, no matter who does it to whom.
@@jonnie2bad that’s a terrible and inhumane law, if that’s the case.
Inflation is just company price gouging
Inflation is caused by government over spending
If I were to choose, I'd much rather be employed while in prison as opposed to rotting away in a cell.
Put them to work; they owe society that much at least.
Keep defending the worst people and lose at the polls.
They never stopped slavery they just switched the name Citizen with citizen
The jails by me in Pittsburgh do work release and they go cut grass at grave yeards and other things around the community. My brother was on it at 1 point
They get real food, real clothes and real cigarettes. I feel that if ur locked up, its for a reason and u shouldnt get privileges like that. You were taken out of the community because you were acting a fool so therefore I feel you shouldn't be let back in the community until your time is up
Half the point is most of them will get out and you want them to avoid crime after they are.
This is just slavery
Hello- prison is supposed to be punishment... not profitable for the prisoners. Truth be told they're probably grateful to get out of cells, and not just be sitting wasting away
Prison is a punishment, 25% of americans go to prison and only 2% of crimes are ever solved.
In Norway, they send them to rehabilitation, to teach them how to not be isolated, make friends and hold a job.
Even the Norway prisoners in maximum security have access to knives, yet they don't stab eachother. Because they're treated like humans and not animals
You simply don't own another human.
It's not supposed to be source of free labor for privately owned companies, that's for sure.
@@Missunderstood103
They’re filthy criminals. Who cares!
what a horrible thing to say Anita - especially considering that +80% of the people in jail are non-violent offenders - in some states you can get 5 yrs for merely carrying a joint - others unlawfully/wrongfully arrested - using people as SLAVES is not reform in any manner, and only turns those put in that system to come out hating society more! THEY ARE NOT GRATEFUL - what a cold and callous thing to say about another human being !
Pretty sure this is called slavery.
Thats Angola, leave them to deal with their own. Besides incarcerated people needs to do something productive tooccupy their time other than eating, sleeping, and fight with fellow inmates. They have to learn to earn their living thats how we do in the normal world, work. Nothing is free.
Years ago we lived on a prison farm in Texas and my dad was the agricultural head; my dad was hated because he did not let the local prison employees benefit by skimming products for themselves rather than for the benefit of the prison system’s stated agricultural goals.
Good Theraphy❤
the working class is fed up with not making enough to survive. these companies are pinching every penny despite record profits
Its called work release....and thank you to the companies willing to take on those people who want to try and get past they're crimes
This isn’t work release. You clearly didn’t watch the video.
Other countries like China do this and the US government screams its abusive treatment of prisoners. The US does it and the US government praises it as quality rehabilitation for the prisoners . 🤷