Today, Explained - 19 cents per hour

Episode Date: August 21, 2018

Inmates nationwide go on strike today to protest conditions they call “modern-day slavery": incarcerated Americans are paid pennies on the dollar for cooking food, making license plates, even fighting fires. The Marshall Project’s Nicole Lewis explains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for the show today comes from Google Play. It's a place where you can find a whole lot of things, including audiobooks. There's thousands of titles to choose from, and you don't have to subscribe to anything. And right now you can get $10 off your first audiobook are going on strike. I think many people know that prisoners are required to work while they're incarcerated. So in many cases, prisoners sort of keep the grounds running. So they cook foods, they clean of keep the grounds running. So they cook foods, they clean. Workers are being asked not to show up for those positions. And in

some cases, prisoners who do not work or do not have a position are being asked to refuse food. So go on basically a hunger strike. Nicole Lewis covers criminal justice for the Marshall Project. Today kicks off the start of a strike that is set to last for three weeks. The strike is organized by a set of human rights activists who are incarcerated in prisons scattered across the country protesting labor conditions and what they're calling modern-day slavery. There's lots of issues and lots of demands,

but all of the strikes can be more or less traced to one incident. Organizers are responding to a riot that took place in Lee Correctional Facility in South Carolina in April. Seven inmates are dead and more than a dozen are wounded after a riot broke out inside a maximum security prison. Several of the organizers are basically alleging that the riot was a result of overcrowding and that corrections officers actually have made a habit of placing rival gang members in the same tier. An inmate who witnessed the incident said he saw bodies stacked up on each other and that correctional officers didn't do anything to stop the violence or help the injured. No guards were wounded in the riot.

How big will this strike be? How many incarcerated people are working while in prison in America? As of 2014, there are about 875,000 inmates spread out across the country performing some sort of labor. And so organizers anticipate that there will be work stoppages in 17 states as of today. So how do incarcerated people organize labor strikes? Great question. So it is incredibly difficult, as you can imagine, to organize a labor strike while you're incarcerated.

A few of the organizers do have access to contraband cell phones, so they're able to keep in touch with one another and spread the word via text message, via phone call, via Facebook. That's incredibly risky because if they were to be found out, you know, using the cell phone, they face incredible retribution. And so they've been coordinating with outside organizations to spread the word. So through social media, tweeting, Facebook pages, and then through like a network of advocates and family and friends who've seen the post about a strike online and, you know, call their loved one, write a letter and say, hey, did you know this is happening? Are you going to participate? So it's been a pretty heavily coordinated effort.

I first came across the strike via social media. I follow a Twitter account called Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and noticed a few weeks ago that they were advertising for a strike. But if like prison wardens and the various states running these prisons or even private institutions are aware that the strike is coming, will they try and stop it? Absolutely. So I spoke with an organizer who's incarcerated in Alabama, and he was saying that, you know, he's already gotten word of threats of suppression, of prisons going into lockdown. Prisoners don't have a sort of unilateral First Amendment right where they can just assemble peacefully as they see fit. The Supreme Court actually decided that prison wardens could say, hey, no, you can't assemble here. You know, it's a threat to safety and security of the prison, and it's in my interest to keep you safe, keep the prison safe.

And so those kinds of things can be suppressed, and it sounds like there's, now that there's sort of more media coverage, that there's already some of that happening. So what are the prisoners demanding? Prisoners have a set of 10 national demands, which are really focused on an immediate change to prison conditions, being paid the prevailing wage in their state, as well as more of a focus on rehabilitation, a restoration of Pell Grants, and a restoration of voting rights for all incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. It sounds like it's a bit of a tall order. I mean, those are a lot of changes to ask for. Yeah, they are. But I will say that many of these things actually are aspects of criminal justice reform that are kind of already taking shape across the country. You know, in Florida, in November, voters will have the chance to vote on a state amendment that could restore voting rights for all former felons, you know, who are not convicted of murder or major sex crime. Governor Cuomo in New York State has already granted pardons for like 25,000 parolees.

Similar things have taken shape in Virginia and Alabama. And what kind of retribution are incarcerated people who go on strike facing if they're asking for a whole list of demands that might not be met and they're going on strike? What could happen to them? Sure. I mean, participating in a prison strike is just inherently risky. Not showing up for work, not doing what you're basically told

means that you face punishment anywhere from receiving an infraction to being shipped to solitary confinement. Oftentimes when prisoners are not cooperating or there's some sort of disturbance, the prison itself will go entirely on lockdown, which means that basically, you know, no one is leaving their cell for the day. And this could happen for a day, weeks, months. But one of the organizers I spoke to made it really clear that lockdown for them would sort of be a small success because it means that, one, they're not performing their work. Two, they're also not spending money within the prison. And so this was a big point.

One of the organizers was framing it for me as, you know, potential sort of small victory. So the strike is scheduled to wrap up on September 9th. That's the anniversary of the Attica prison riots, which I learned about from the movie Dog Day Afternoon. I don't want to talk to some flunky pig trying to calm me. Get over there, will ya? He wants to kill me so bad he can taste it. All I got to do is kill you.

Attica! Attica! Attica! What happened there? So the Attica prison riot is widely known as one of the most deadly riots in American history. On September 9th, 1971, prisoners at Attica Correctional Facility seized control of the prison. Inmates sent a set of demands asking for better conditions to prison officials, and they were just completely ignored. Inmates sort of became more and more uneasy. There was some report that they saw one of their peers being basically placed back in a cell,

his limp body being carried by guards, and so... The prisoners took hostages and demanded better living conditions. And that ultimately set off extremely deadly violence in which inmates died, along with corrections officers. The first thing I seen in here was a helicopter, you know, and then gas, and then a loudspeaker. Put your hand on your head, and you won't be harmed,

and all that type of stuff, but shooting at the same time. And then they were coming over the wall, the assault forces. The decision went all the way up to the president. I have Governor Rockefeller for you, sir. There you are. Mr. President. For the courage you showed and the judgment in not granting amnesty, it was right, and I don't care what the hell the papers or anybody else says.

As the violence sort of settled down, there was some negotiation for better terms, and initially officials agreed to those terms, but it sort of all went out the window. Armed rebellion of the type we have faced threatens the destruction of our free society. We cannot permit that destruction to happen. After the sort of dust settled, there was an investigation into the prison conditions, and the officials found that there was a total need to make changes. Conditions in 1971 before the rebellion was bad. You know, bad food, bad educational programs, very, very low, low wages. We were called slave wages. In the sort of short term, the experience for inmates did improve,

but there was a lot of casualty in the process. With so many strikes happening across prisons across the country and so many prisoners going on strike. Is there a chance that something like that could happen in the next couple of weeks? I mean, I think there's always a chance that riots can break out in prison. You've got a ton of people, you know, segregated into a small space who are, as we know, not necessarily living in the best, most humane, most hospitable conditions. All of the organizers that I've spoke to and all of the literature that I've read online makes it very clear that this is designed or expected to be a nonviolent, you know,

a simple work stoppage as well as a hunger strike. But I think anytime you have people standing up to demand, you know, better treatment, better action, there is always a risk that a few people could dissent and make it violent. But I think the expectation is that nobody should have to lose their life. In a moment, putting incarcerated Americans to work is baked into the Constitution. This is Today Explained. Google Play has audiobooks. I went just to make sure. Thank you. and Men by John Steinbeck. It's a tale of commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss. Two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression grasping for their American dream.

Check out audiobooks on Google Play at g.co slash play slash explained. And if you're looking for a new show to watch, check out No Passport Required from Eater and PBS. Chef and host Marcus Samuelson heads to a different American city in every episode

to learn how immigrant communities have changed the city's food and culture. You've got Indo-Guyanese in Queens, Vietnamese in New Orleans, and Ethiopian here in D.C. You can watch full episodes at Eater's site or at the PBS site. Just search for No Passport required. My name is Alan Schultz. I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I've basically been in and out of being incarcerated since about age 12 to about age 26. I haven't been back in basically since about 2008.

As a juvenile, I've worked jobs from standard, like, janitorial work, cleaning hallways, basically to gain privileges to get out of my cell more. When I got to being an adult, they kind of force you into doing that in even more coercive ways, stating you have to go work in the kitchen. If you refuse to work in their kitchen, they end up then taking a lot of your privileges away that you normally would have. So like, normally you would be able to go to rec. Normally you would be able to go to the library. If they really don't like you, they will put you in solitary confinement. Most of the time I've worked these jobs not because I wanted to work them. If I didn't do it, I would go to the hole.

And then that would also mean that I wouldn't be able to see my family for visitation. It's like 19 cents an hour for working the kitchen and the correctional institutions here. The least that should be done is that everybody should be getting paid the standard prevailing wage of that state. Me personally, I believe that like these folks should be getting paid a livable wage. In 2016, there was a strike that had an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 people that participated. I believe that the 2018 one is going to be even more impactful. And I believe especially getting everybody their voting rights, including those that are still inside, is equally important because these folks don't stop being citizens just because they're inside. So, so much of this strike seems to have to do with the fact that

incarcerated people in America have to work for very little money. How did that even become a thing? The 13th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution basically outlaws slavery with the exception of as a punishment for a crime. When the labor organizers, when the inmates sort of are saying that we are protesting modern day slavery, this is really what they're taking issue with. It's the fact that all across the country you have people who go into prison and are essentially required to work if they are able. And oftentimes they're making 20 to 40 cents an hour. And in some states like Georgia, they're not paid at all. At the same time, I mean, I read yesterday that, and I often hear this statistic cited as, you know, proof that we need to do something about our overpopulation in prisons. But the average prisoner in California costs the state $80,000 a year.

Can California make the argument that, you know, incarcerating you costs $80,000 a year? I think you should work for that money. Right. It's no secret that incarcerating people is incredibly expensive. So there's an argument to be made on one side about keeping costs down. But I think at the same time, you know, many of these organizers make the argument that, well, we don't actually have to send that many people to prison. deal with the costs of mass incarceration by changing sentencing laws, by thinking about other reforms that would focus more on rehabilitation as opposed to just sending people away and, you know, throwing away the key.

Is there any evidence that working in prison while incarcerated makes one better situated once he or she is released to join the workforce or rejoin the workforce? Yeah, it's sort of a mixed bag. So in many ways, earning an education has been shown to be the biggest preventer of having inmates recidivate. So if you can get a GED, you know, your associate's degree, if you can graduate from college, it tends to help you sort of stay out of prison. The same is sort of true for work. Having a skill, obviously, is important so that when people are released, they have some sort of industry that they could tap into.

But there are numerous barriers that inmates face when looking for jobs once they get out. And so a good example would be currently there's a group of inmates fighting wildfires in California, and they're being paid very little. We make a dollar an hour when we're out here on the fires. I'm in prison, so I guess I take what I can get. It's volunteer, so it is something that these folks sort of decide on their own to do. But if they were to be paroled and then try to join the fire department, they would be denied because of a criminal record. And so it's just very difficult to say what gives people the best shot. I have spoken to a few inmates who say working in prison was very important for them,

that it meant that they could spend time outside of their cell, that they could sort of establish a routine and just generally forget for a moment that they're incarcerated. But I think right on the other side of that argument is, well, work is one way, but what if there were more programs, you know, more educational opportunities, just more opportunities to participate in a community while you're incarcerated? I mean, talking about this in terms of modern day slavery, it's sort of hard to not think about the racial disparities in prison. Yeah, so there's a huge racial disparity in prison.

African American people make up about 12 to 13 percent of the U.S. population, but are 33 percent of the prison population. So it's incredible over-representation there. But I do want to point out one thing. So this past week, as I've been reporting on the story, I've been, you know, reading interviews with some of the incarcerated organizers. I happened to speak to one on the phone at length over the weekend. They're actually very clear to point out that when they speak of the prison system today

as modern-day slavery, they're not just applying it to African American people. They're really sort of looking at it as an economic system where you now have a group of people that because of the sort of stigma attached to committing a crime are seen as somehow sort of less than human or less worthy of the same sort of rights that you or I or any sort of non-incarcerated person enjoy. I think that the framing helps the organizers sort of rights that you or I or any sort of non-incarcerated person enjoy. I think that the framing helps the organizers sort of make a case for why their sort of white peers who are incarcerated alongside of them should participate. As you can imagine, you know, a strike of this level might only be successful if they have some sort of solidarity between black

and white and Hispanic inmates as well. I mean, is there any chance that something like this, the size and scope of this strike, I don't know, awakens anyone to the issue of prison overpopulation and overcrowding and sentencing? Is there any chance that there is actual criminal justice reform as a result? Sure. I mean, I think that there's a possibility. I know that one of the organizers I spoke to sort of made it very clear to me that, you know, the goal in this case for them is not necessarily to win all their demands, right? So will a three-week strike restore voting rights for all felons? Probably not. But the more that they can get media attention,

the more they can get eyeballs on the issue, the more they can make it clear what's actually happening to them, the more they hope to influence everyday Americans who have the power to vote for leaders who are invested in criminal justice reform. Nicole Lewis is a reporter at the Marshall Project I'm Sean Ramos for them this is Today Explained Thanks again to Google Play for supporting the show today. You obviously like to listen to things, and Google Play would like you to listen to their audiobooks.

They're even sweetening the deal by offering $10 off your first one if you visit g.co slash play slash explained. Again, get $10 off an audiobook at g.co slash play slash explained.