THE BAD BUSINESS OF PRISONS

Although the article "Turning a Profit on Prisoners" [July 23 Shepherd
Express] brought up several problems related to prison privatization, one
that was not mentioned is the impact these facilities have upon the working
people of this country.

In many of these prisons, inmates are being used as subsidized labor by
corporations looking to hold wages down. One company, Fabry Glove & Mitten
Co. in Green Bay, actually eliminated 57 jobs by utilizing inmates at a
Green Bay prison. These inmates were paid far less than the top rate of
$13.52 per hour paid to sewing machine operators at Fabry's own plant, and
while in training these inmates were paid only 20 cents per hour.

Across the country, prison labor is paid, on average, less than $8 per day
to produce items such as furniture and eyeglasses. TWA uses female inmates
to take airline reservations.

The net impact of this subsidized labor is a lower standard of living for
workers forced to compete with inmates for jobs.

American taxpayers who are tired of paying the high cost of warehousing
criminals should insist that legislators facilitate the development of more
living-wage jobs outside the prisons. Only by doing this will society reduce
crime and lessen the need to expand our prison system.

Thomas Dunne

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"