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Crop-Pickin’ Prisoners in the Colorado Fields
It seems that farmers in the Pueblo County, Colorado area are having some problems finding workers to pick crops. In spite of offering up to $9.60/hr, things are bad enough that crops either rotted in the fields last fall, some farmers are planning to plant less (or not at all) — or they’re going out of business altogether.
So how do you feel about farmers contracting with the state’s Department of Corrections for inmate labor?
More at Polimom Says.
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9 Responses to “Crop-Pickin’ Prisoners in the Colorado Fields”
Polimom, I believe you are in error on this one…and that your blogger friend has called this one: it is too close to slavery.
You note that prison labor is voluntary. Yes, and as such, this is not so much “slavery” as “indentured servitude”.
The risk here is that, if immigrant labour cannot be found to harvest these crops, farms in the south and California will be filled with prison work gangs. Many of these farms are not family farms, but large corporate entities.
Thus, the state will be supplying incredibly cheap labour to corporations…doubtless apportioned on the basis of political connections.
Shades of the Gulag and Stalin’s work camps. What about when there are not enough “volunteers”? Will it be made compulsory?
It was bad enough when United Fruit created plantations throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Now they will exist in the United States?
I don’t think the United States should go down this road at all.
Let them work for minimum wage, prison wages are a fraction of minimum wage. If they owe any restitution, split the earnings 50/50. The money could be banked, $400 per week(@$8/hr) would be too much to spend in the commisary compared to those who couldn’t or wouldn’t work on farms.
Rudi — it sounds like you’re saying that farm workers should earn more than prisoners in other industries. Why would that be (assuming I’ve understood you correctly).
Also — everybody understands that the farmers who would hire them (or rather, would hire the DOC) would be paying a lot more than that .60, right?
I’m one who says that there’s no such thing as a job Americans won’t do at the true market rate. The example you give is interesting but it isn’t sufficient to demonstrate that Americans aren’t willing to work on a farm for $10/hour.
The reason is that given by the farmers: consistency. If their workers could count on having a job next year, farmers wouldn’t have so much trouble finding workers. But who is going to move to a rural area to work 6 months out of the year when there’s no assurance that the illegals won’t be let back in next year and you’ll be out on your rear?
A higher wage is demanded for the work and this is the true cost of producing food in America at this point in time. If we decide that we don’t like that cost then we can either skirt the law using illegal labor or pass legislation that provides a legal avenue to use foreign workers.
The prisoner program you discuss is another “out of the box” alternative. I agree with you that this is a good idea. That’s true whether participation is voluntary or not.
Part of being in prison is “paying one’s debt to society” and I can’t think of a better way to do that than working. Certainly there’s nothing shameful or degrading about working on a farm (this is the voice of first-hand experience speaking).
Bravo, I say.
I’m with Marlowe on the concern about the possibility of exploitation of the govt contracts with the Ag industry. I’m not sure how this factors in with other prison work programs: the ones I’m most familiar with seem to involve labor that would be hired by the state for services like cleaning up litter along the highways; so there’s no back room deals going on there.
I think blackshards is right about what this says about the labor market and my prescription would be a legal guest worker program.
“Part of being in prison is “paying one’s debt to societyâ€? and I can’t think of a better way to do that than working. ”
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I agree.
Also, prisoner upkeep is extremely expensive. I see nothing wrong with part of wages prisoners earn being applied to the cost they create for the government. Counseling and medical care by themselves are a big and unpaid bill.
All that needs addressing is what their wages should be. If farmers pay the equivalent of illegal workers’ wages, they lose nothing, and the legal system gains.
Our prison system is appaling, but that’s another line of discussion.
Offer more money and I bet a few thousand unemployed people here in Michigan will take those jobs.
Polimom – I say let them work volentarily for $8 to $10 per hour. The prisoners would save a small nest egg while helping out farmers. If prisoner owed restitution, a portion of wages earned could go to victims. Let them worlk at minimum wage instead of $1 per our in the prison.
Great, another subsidy for farmers, as if they don’t get enough already. Why farmers? Why not dry cleaners or home builders. For that matter why not Wal Mart, they collect enough money in the form of retail taxes to justify some help. If we are going to do this use them to benefit as many of the taxpayers as possible, like road building or graffiti removal, using them to benefit one group is in fact a dangerous road to take.