Government turns to prisoners for cheap labor
The road to riches is paved with cheap labor. (See: China) And you don’t get much cheaper than prisoners.
A skilled onion picker can earn $10 an hour.
Recently, the state of Georgia announced a plan to use prisoners to harvest crops. Why? A new law pretty much ran off Hispanic field hands.
As federal employees celebrate Columbus, perhaps history’s most famous and geographically confused immigrant, the lack of onion pickers in Vidalia brings crocodile tears to the eyes.
The prisoner farm plan comes after a failed scheme to seduce probationers into doing the dirty work.
Now, a Georgia county is planning to use inmates to man fire stations.
A properly trained firefighter costs upwards of $30,000 a year. An inmate will work a lot cheaper – Camden County hopes to save $500,000 a year.
Of course, when my flaming roof is about to collapse, I’d prefer a guy to show up with an ax that knows how to use it for its law-abiding purpose.
Georgia isn’t the only place giving jobs to the undeserving: Indiana’s War Memorial saves $400,000 a year since using inmates ($1.50 per hour) instead of a landscaping company.
With a seemingly limitless number of criminals to employ, the jobless rate may not go down anytime soon.
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125 comments Add your comment
D. Clay
October 10th, 2011
1:32 pm
LET ME BE CLEAR; THERE IS NO VIOLATION OF LAW WHEN INMATES ARE MADE TO WORK ON STATE-OWNED PROJECTS AND JOBS….THAT IS PERFECTLY LEGAL…..BUT WHEN INMATES ARE UTILIZED TO BE A PART OF THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM…THAT THEN BECOMES SLAVERY……WE MUST FOLLOW THE LAW…..IF NOT, THEN WE ARE NO BETTER THAN CRIMINALS.
Tim in KY
October 10th, 2011
1:32 pm
This ain’t nothin’ new! I know in Muscogee County (Columbus), prisoners were always used for manual labor jobs such as cutting overgrown grass fields and other areas. They also took care of trash collection in the city and god knows whatever else! But for the more skilled positions, such as firefighter, of course you have to have trained personnel, not to mention it is against the law to place even criminals in harms way! Not to mention, you run the risk of escape and dereliction of duty in the rescue or extinguishing of fires by prisoners. I know if it were me, I’m not risking my life to save someone else, and I’m only getting paid, $ .75/hr. Forget it!!!
LAL
October 10th, 2011
1:33 pm
I am in full support of this idea – there’s no reason why prisoners should not being contributing to society since society is taking care of them! Food, shelter, clothing, medical care all for committing a crime.
LABOY
October 10th, 2011
1:35 pm
i say let’em work haha they in jail dey aint got nuthin else to do
Pat
October 10th, 2011
1:35 pm
For the people that are calling this salary, did you even ready the article? It says that the work would be voluntary for the prisoners so they can learn new skills, earn money and eventually land steady jobs that would help them once they get out of prison. I guess I could say every job I had is slavery.
CazLand
October 10th, 2011
1:36 pm
What took the state so long. This should have been enacted years ago,not just when the state gov is in the RED
Pat
October 10th, 2011
1:37 pm
For all you human rights activist, it is helping them do something with their time instead of sitting and not doing anything in the prison walls and once again, it is voluntary.
CazLand
October 10th, 2011
1:38 pm
LAL-kudos! If me and every other law abiding tax paying citizen is footin the bill for they’re room & board plus health benifits this should be a no brainer.
Pat
October 10th, 2011
1:39 pm
D. Clay, how about you read the article before jumping to conclusions and have to use all caps.
db
October 10th, 2011
1:44 pm
I was a correctional officer and corporal in the prison system before i became a probation officer and i will say that inmate firefighters are some of the best that come in that business. They have to endure the same training as regular firefighters and they are darn good at what they do. You have to realize that just because they are in prison does not make them terrible people. How many of you have broken the law or done something wrong but just didnt get caught. Furthermore, it could be you accused of doing something you honestly did not do and be punished for it like some people in prison are going through. The point is, everyone in the system are not bad people, believe me, I work with them everyday. Lastly, again, these guys take what they do seriously because when they get released, their certification still stands and no one can strip that from them. I guarantee if you go around to your local fire departments, YOU WILL DEFINITELY find out that some of them have at least one ex con on their staff. I havent encountered many inmates who would give that up. They are human beings also.