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Criminal Justice Reform
Coordinated with Mothers for Police Accountability and the Seattle Construction Building Trades Council, we seek to build stronger coalitions between unions and community organizations impacted by the escalating cycle of incarceration. As the criminal justice system continues to drain our government budgets and force cuts to union member jobs, we need a movement to redirect funding back to community needs. While Washington state corporations are one of the most advanced in replacing our union jobs with prison labor, we need a movement to clean up our prison sweatshops. Many of us have personally seen how incarceration erodes our families in our communities, deprives the voting rights of our allies and members, and disproportionately impacts people of color.
While JwJ agrees that employment could create a more stable prison environment and help prisoners find living wage jobs release, we believe that sweatshop labor in dead end jobs is not acceptable. Washington State needs to reform the prison labor program, and we need to raise our voices about taxpayer subsidies given to corporations and ineffective prison training programs. To that end, we are working with the Building Trades to explore extending apprenticeship programs in prisons and put a check on corporate greed.
Washington is one of the most advanced states in the US in the use of prison labor - since its inception in 1983, the program has expanded and evolved into the largest private-sector prison employment program in the country. Fifteen private companies are currently operating within the state prison system and using inmate labor to supplement their outside workforce. Our state legislative has set ever higher annual benchmarks of recruiting corporations to use prison labor.
Taxpayers subsidize the companies in the program, which aren't required to pay for inmates' housing, living costs, health insurance, or retirement. Company costs for electricity and water are also covered by the state. The Department of Corrections also shaves nearly 50% off the top of an inmate's minimal paycheck to pay for prison and court costs thus creating an incentive to expand this system further. (E.C. Barnett, Seattle Weekly, 12/27/01).
The prison labor program was initially set up as a means for prisoners to gain skills so that they would be employable upon exiting the prison system. Corporations have capitalized on prison labor, however, by utilizing prisoners who are serving a 10-year to life sentence, so as not to have to re-train the worker. Short-time prisoners are not getting the job training needed before release.
Some examples where prison labor is used by companies, but that could have provided union jobs instead include:
- All the furniture (including desks and chairs) in our public higher education system (UW, WSU, TESC, etc.)
- The signs at Safeco field (Microjet, Monroe)
- United Airlines reservations (Monroe)
- Levis Jeans (Clallam)
- Starbucks packaging (Monroe)
- Nintendo packaging (Monroe)
- Sees Candies
- Western Optical Eyeglasses
- Mortgage Lending
- Duffle Bags
- Josten's caps & gowns
- Chairs (Compuchair, Monroe)
- Bob Barker shoes (Monroe)
Nationally, "sales of products made by prison labor grew to $1.7B in 1999. Prison labor is one of the fastest growing workforces in the country. Currently 85,000 inmates hold a job. 80% of OR's 'able-bodied' prison population works full-time." (Labor Notes 8/01, p.4.)
In November 2001, we helped sponsor and organize a regional summit conference to begin building coalition to address these conditions. The Criminal Justice Reform Summit was a success with over 250 committed activists attending, 50 endorsing and sponsoring organizations, and 30 presentations on a wide variety of criminal justice issues. Eight Jobs with Justice member organizations endorsed and/or sponsored the summit including the King County Labor Council. The following JwJ member organizations participated in and organized for the summit:
- Seattle Construction Building Trades Council voted to endorse, sponsored with $100, and sent leadership to conduct a panel on apprenticeships as alternatives to incarceration
- Mothers for Police Accountability endorsed and sponsored the summit and contributed much leadership time to organizing the summit
- American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1789 passed a resolution to support the summit
- Jam for Justice endorsed and sponsored and contributed much leadership time to organizing the entire summit
- The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) endorsed the summit and made a contribution of $50.00 for food to supplement the donations.
- The King County Labor Council (KCLC) passed a resolution to endorse the summit
- Out Front Labor Coalition sponsored the summit with $50
- The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) of Seattle endorsed
- Service Employees' International Union (SEIU) Local 6 passed a resolution to support the summit
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