On Saturday, May 31st, 2025, the Minnesota Prisoner Workers Organizing Committee (MPWOC) held a significant rally at the state capitol, demanding an end to forced labor in the state’s correctional institutions. The rally, which drew a large crowd, was part of a nationwide movement challenging the long-standing problem of involuntary servitude in the US prison system, and brought attention to deeper systemic issues.
According to the MPWOC, both federal and state governments have been offsetting budget shortfalls by forcing incarcerated individuals to work without fair compensation, often to maintain the very prisons that confine them. These individuals are often assigned to a variety of jobs, including janitorial work, plumbing, electrical work, and food service, which allows prisons to significantly reduce their operating costs.
In addition, many states and municipalities have contracts with state departments of corrections that utilize incarcerated labor for various public works projects, often off prison grounds. At least 41 state departments of corrections have public works programs that employ incarcerated workers. These individuals are responsible for maintaining cemeteries, school grounds, fairgrounds, and public parks, as well as undertaking road work, constructing buildings, cleaning government offices, and providing assistance during natural disasters. Incarcerated firefighters also play a crucial role in fighting wildfires in several states.
State prison systems also benefit from labor contracts with private companies that employ incarcerated workers. These companies often take advantage of prison labor by paying individuals low wages or no wages at all, while still benefiting from their work. For example, the Utah Correctional Industries has sold goods and services to almost a thousand private companies, while incarcerated individuals in Arkansas work in fields, slaughterhouses, and egg production facilities.
However, the use of incarcerated labor is not entirely voluntary in the United States. “I was incarcerated for 11 years in the state of California and I worked against my will under conditions of involuntary servitude – a form of modern-day slavery,” explained one incarcerated individual at the rally.
Incarcerated workers typically earn little to no pay for their labor, often making just pennies per hour. At the rally in Minnesota, civil rights advocate Nekima Levy Armstrong called attention to MINNCOR Industries, a state-run program within the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Despite providing goods and services to the University of Minnesota, including furniture and laundry services, incarcerated workers are paid as low as 25 cents per hour, while MINNCOR executives earn over $100,000 annually.
In the federal system, all “sentenced inmates who are physically and mentally able to work are required to participate in the work program.” Those who refuse to work or accept program assignments, or who fail to perform their assigned work, can face disciplinary action and may lose privileges such as personal phone calls, family visitation, and access to the commissary. They may also lose the opportunity to shorten their sentence through earned “good time,” effectively extending their incarceration.
Even during the height of the pandemic, incarcerated individuals who refused work assignments due to health concerns were subject to punishment. In at least 40 states, incarcerated workers were tasked with manufacturing personal protective equipment, such as hand sanitizer, masks, and medical gowns, that they were not allowed to use to protect themselves. Those who refused to work faced the threat of punishment. For example, incarcerated workers in Colorado who opted out of kitchen work assignments due to health concerns had their parole eligibility dates pushed back. In Illinois, one worker reported being punished with a rule violation for refusing to report to their job in the kitchen after testing positive for COVID-19.
The use of forced labor in US prisons has drawn mounting condemnation from international human rights organizations and domestic advocacy groups. Legal experts and human rights advocates are urging the federal government to not only repeal the 13th Amendment’s exception clause, which allows for the use of forced labor as punishment for a crime, but to also ensure that incarcerated workers receive fair wages and labor protections. The International Labour Organization (ILO) and United Nations human rights experts have repeatedly warned that the US’s prison labor practices may violate international labor conventions, particularly when labor is performed under coercion and benefits private industry.
In a country that prides itself on freedom and democracy, the persistence of forced labor in US prisons is a cause for concern. The call for reform is growing louder, with protests, lawsuits, and union-backed prison staff strikes taking place across the country. As global scrutiny increases and domestic resistance intensifies, it is clear that the United States must take action to reconcile its laws with its values and international human rights standards.
Distributed by https://pressat.co.uk/
