Prisonlandia, part 12
To Work or Not to Work
Having good health and being able to physically perform tasks is a truly rewarding thing that anyone should be thankful for, however, being compelled to work without benefit and under fear of disciplinary action if refused, can really suck the enjoyment out of a day's good work. In TDCJ, under the current law and policies, you can be forced to work through threats of disciplinary cases or loss of “good-time” which has no real value anyway. Many other states have determined that this “slave” like labor is wrong and have created laws which prohibit it. However, Texas is one of the last holdouts and is taking advantage of the power granted to the States by the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which states:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”
In fact, if you read the Texas Penal Code Sec. 20A.02 Trafficking of Persons, it states that a “person commits an offense if they knowingly traffic another person with the intent that the trafficked person engage in forced labor or services”. “Forced labor and services” is then defined as “forced labor or services provided by another person and obtained through use of force, fraud, or coercion” Hmm. This sounds an awful lot like what Texas does with its inmates on a daily basis. Despite its protection by the Constitution, the behavior is despicable. The hypocrisy of Texas utilizing forced labor yet and the same time outlawing it reminds me of the words of Friedrich Nietzsche written through the eyes of a criminal – “for he sees exactly the same kind of actions practiced in the service of justice and approved of and used with good conscience”. Nietzsche goes on to write “all of them are therefore actions which his judges in no way condemn and repudiate as such, but only when they are applied and directed to certain particular ends.” That’s a mouthful, but in essence, Texas frowns on trafficking and slave labor, except when it provides a benefit to the State.
Let me step down from my soapbox for a moment and get back to my original point – being forced to work. Some inmates don’t mind, as they see it as a means to pass time and get out of the wing or dorm. Understandable I suppose, but I feel that this mentality is the equivalent to accepting “your lot in life” and letting others walk all over you. So what should one do? My suggestion is to be completely passive aggressive and use every medical restriction possible to your benefit so that you will be “medically unassigned”.
Imagine what would happen if every inmate in TDCJ refused to work. The system would come to a screeching halt. Yes, there would be lockdowns, threats of discipline, threats of loss of “good-time”, and fear of losing parole. But in the end, the system would have to change or it would not be able to function. It’s like the old saying goes, “the inmates run the Prisonlandia.”
Here are some of the standard jobs you can find on a unit in Texas:
Laundry Recreation Porter Kitchen
Grounds Crew Commissary Maintenance
Cleaning Crew Janitor Shower Squad
Law Library Clerk Library Worker Supply
Barber Property Outside S2
Inside S2 Education Assistant
There are plenty of other jobs doing all kinds of things and some that will allow you to learn a trade and the jobs with Texas Correctional Industries (TCI) are actually paid.
“But Prisonlandia’s do rely on the labor of incarcerated people for food service, laundry and other operations, and they pay incarcerated workers unconscionably low wages: our 2017 study found that on average, incarcerated people earn between 86 cents and $3.45 per day for the most common Prisonlandia jobs. In at least five states, those jobs pay nothing at all.” (www.Prisonpolicy.org/factsheets/pie2020_allimages.pdf)
Here’s a breakdown of different state’s and what they pay their inmates:
20. West Virginia
> Incarcerated workers: 1,010
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $13 to $71 per month
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.25 to $1.25 per hour
19. New Hampshire
> Incarcerated workers: 1,244
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.85 to $3.00 per day
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $1 to $5 per day
18. North Dakota
> Incarcerated workers: 1,505
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $1.55 to $7.07 per day
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.45 to $1.79 per hour
17. Rhode Island
> Incarcerated workers: 2,163
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.50 to $3.00 per day
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $1.50 to $3.00 per day
16. Nebraska
> Incarcerated workers: 3,092
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $1.21 to $4.72 per day; $0.38 to $1.50 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.38 to $1.08 per hour
15. Tennessee
> Incarcerated workers: 7,724
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.17 to $0.59 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: N/A
14. Arkansas
> Incarcerated workers: 7,837
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: 0
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: 0
13. Washington
> Incarcerated workers: 8,392
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: No more than $55 per month
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.70 to $2.70 to hour
12. Colorado
> Incarcerated workers: 10,392
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.33 to $1.61 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.86 to $2.49 per hour
11. North Carolina
> Incarcerated workers: 13,142
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.40 to $1.00 per day
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: No more than $3.00 per
10. Maryland
> Incarcerated workers: 13,242
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.90 to $2.75 per day
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.17 to $1.16 per hour
9. South Carolina
> Incarcerated workers: 14,786
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0 for nearly all jobs
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0 to $2.00 per hour
8. Wisconsin
> Incarcerated workers: 15,724
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.12 to $0.42 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.97 per hour on average
7. Virginia
> Incarcerated workers: 16,000
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.27 to $0.45 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.55 to $0.80 per hour
6. Montana
> Incarcerated workers: 16,430
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.35 to $0.45 per hour, $1.25 to $4.50 per day
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.40 to $0.60 per hour, $1.70 to $5.00 per day
5. Arizona
> Incarcerated workers: 18,097
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.15 to $0.45 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.23 to $1.00 per hour
4. Pennsylvania
> Incarcerated workers: 30,491
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.19 to $0.51 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.19 to $0.51 per hour
3. New York
> Incarcerated workers: 31,000
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.10 to $0.33 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.16 to $0.65 per hour
2. California
> Incarcerated workers: 64,788
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: $0.08 to $0.37 per hour
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: $0.35 to $1.00 per hour
1. Texas
> Incarcerated workers: 121,247
> Pay scale, non-industry jobs: 0
> Pay scale, jobs in state-owned correctional industries: 0
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