Convict labor in the U.S.

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Prison Labor, Prison Blues
AFL-CIO Label Letter, [16 December 1995]. Tens of thousands of state and federal prisoners being paid minimum or sub-minimum wages generated more than $1 billion a year in sales last year for private businessmen—often in direct competition with private sector workers.
Prisoners ‘hired,’ so ex-welfare clients fired
By Rhonda Cook, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 19 June 1999. To save money, a struggling South Georgia recycling plant fired workers hired off welfare to sort trash for $5.25 an hour. They were replaced with free convict labor, bypassing a Georgia law that prohibits prisoners’ taking the place of paid employees.
Prison labor in the U.S.
By Victor Perlo, 17 August 1999. U.S. imperialism uses cries of prison labor to attack China and other socialist countries. Unfortunately, the UAW leadership, in its magazine Solidarity, puts China on probation for various sins like prison labor. This helps General Motors instead of union members. Those concerned with human rights should look homeward.
Corporate Watch Editorial
By Julie Light, Corporate Watch, 28 October 1999. The California Department of Corrections Joint Venture Program, and CMT Blues owner Pierre Slieman are operating a sweatshop behind bars.
Starbucks admits its contractor uses prison labor
By Erica C. Barnett, Seattle Weekly, 27 December 2001—2 January 2002. Twin Rivers, part of a four-unit prison that houses mentally ill inmates, high-security felons, and participants in the state’s Sex Offender Treatment Program, is also home to 15 private companies that operate within the state prison system and use inmate labor to supplement their outside workforce.
Prison labor versus private sector jobs
By Eric Badertscher, UPI, 1 February 2002. In Washington State, prison inmates work for the state-chartered Correctional Industries, part of the Department of Corrections. the mandatory contracts have hurt the ability of local private firms to compete. The state-sanctioned monopoly has forced some Washington furniture companies to lay off almost their entire workforce.