GOOD-Prison labor: Made in USA- 1/3

Prison Labor: Made in the U.S.A.

Prison labor is every US Corporation's dream: cheap labor, no sick leave, no time off, no holidays and employees that can be easily replaced. For human rights activists however, it's a nightmare for the very same reasons - but on the other side of the coin: forced labor, no unions, low pay and no protection for employees. The US has used or currently uses prison labor for anything from holiday coffee for Starbucks, cutting airplane components for Boeing, Game Boys for Nintendo, equipment for the war in Iraq, shrink wrapping mousses for Microsoft, making dentures, down to sewing lingerie for Victoria's Secrets. It's a multi-billion dollar business. Today, FSRN brings you an exclusive documentary, Prison Labor, Made in the U.S.A., with reporter Karen Miller.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• prison
• labor
• china
• usa
• starbucks
• game
• boy
• iraq
• fsrn
• free
• speech
• radio
• news

[rhabdoviridae]

Slavery never ended in the U.S.

[gabyluchagaby]

Great reporting. This is 21 century slavery-and how sad that majority of americans aren't aware of this cheap labor.

[He101A]

People in jails don't have any rights, they are property of the state, PERIOD!

[He101A]

This show is about liberalism and the left. Fuck the left. We need hard core fascism!

[musicalidea]

@DarkTemplarKain - You're the kind of slave who gloats at his petty crumb while gleefully stamping on the heads of those lower slaves who haven't even been dealt a morsel. Big boss has taught you well how to scream and shout at your fellow slaves for his own profit interest. Just wait until Big Boss consolidates his power even further and moves you down to join the ranks of those you spit on - because it's cheaper.

[DarkTemplarKain]

@musicalidea well they do something similar like that in norway and sweden. all we really are doing is giving inmates free rent, and we do have to teach them crime is a bad thing after all.

[musicalidea]

It is also not a coincidence that all these laws were alongside the NAFTA efforts and increased US intervention in Latin America during the mid-to-late 80s (through the present day) to establish completely tax free, EXTRA-JURIDICAL slave labor factory zones. The privatization and dissolution of mental facilities also was calculated to increase the domestic prison labor population, along with the other 3-strikes style laws previously mentioned. Stealing a car and two bicycles gets you life in p.

[musicalidea]

If they don't have to go overseas to enslave people and knock out any attempts in these nations at establishing remotely humane conditions or compensation with School of the Americas trained and US Dept. of Commerce funded coup leaders, they'll readily use the US slave labor market which is more highly skilled and cuts down on greatly on shipping costs.

[musicalidea]

Your specific suggestions are as cruel and arbitrary as the decades to life detainment periods of petty thieves since 3-Strikes legislation began to sweep US states in the 90s motivated by the desire for in-country slave labor - cheaper than overseas slave labor. That said, I heartily agree that there should be national standards set for the working conditions and wages of all inmates. Employment shld also be voluntary. I would furthermore ban private contractors from running correctional fac.

[DarkTemplarKain]

i think it wouldn't be so bad, if they had some small degree of human rights in prison labor, like, they can have 1 day off they choose for themselves a week, and they cannot work more than 10 hours a day. And for a reward, the prisoner earns one 30 minute lunch provided with a meal, and two 15 minute breaks for water and such. So if there were at least a standard, maybe prison labor wouldn't be so bad if they had some form of rights.