OVERVIEW
In 1980 the entire prison population was 316,000. In 1997 it grew to 1.2 million, By the year 2002 the Prisoner population is expected to increase by another 400,000.. Texas presently incarcerates approximately 145,00 persons on the State level alone.
With the existence of an extremely tight labor market private companies turn a lustful eye towards this domestic, idle labor force. Corporations such as Correctional Corporation of America wish for the good old days. "In 1885 three-fourths of U.S. prison inmates were involved in productive labor, with the majority working under prison contract and leasing arrangements with private employers." 1 Many hollow reasons are used to justify the use of Prison Labor many of which sound very good until you read the whole story. At the very bottom line a whole industry is evolving. One that focuses on developing the feasibility of moving your job not to some third world country but to a local prison where the goods can be stamped made in the USA at costs comparable to or lower than overseas factories can only dream of.
This position paper deals with a new wrinkle in the Sentence your job to Prison Game
THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
"Since its founding in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, Habitat for Humanity International has built and rehabilitated more than 100,000 houses with families in need...".2 It became a household name with the involvement of ex- president Jimmy Carter.
Habitat's roots first appeared on Koinonia Farm, a small, interracial, Christian farming community founded in 1942 outside of Americus, Ga., by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan. What began as a intentional community, with the active involvement of the Fullers, Koinonia Farm changed its name to Koinonia Partners and thus became the vehicle for Habitat.
Clarence Jordon is best know for his "Cotton Patch versions of the New Testament, Jesus was wrapped in blanket and placed in an apple box at his birth, lynched in Leesburg, Georgia and greets his disciples with a "Howdy" when he emerges from his tomb on Easter.3
The driving force behind the concept and actual implementation of Habitat, Millard Fuller was a millionaire businessman who gave all his money away. It was fullers direct association that assisted the change of direction for Koinonia . "Although Koinonia Partners is no longer considered an "intentional community" (i.e. we do not share a "common purse") and is in fact incorporated like most non-profits with a Board of Directors, staff and volunteers, we are never far from our original roots. Guided by our rich history and the vision of Clarence Jordan, we continue our mission to apply Jesus' teachings on compassion, partnership, community, reconciliation, and stewardship of our resources to the social and economic realities we face today."<4 "Habitat's economic philosophy is based upon what Fuller calls the "economics of Jesus." The no-profit, no-interest components of the program come from a passage in the Bible (Exodus 22:25) that says someone lending money to the poor should not act as a creditor and charge interest."5
In July 1999 Habitat for Humanity International's Prison Partnership was formally launched. According to Christine Ta Director, Prison Partnership-Habitat for Humanity International "We serve as the resource center for local Habitat affiliates, correctional facilities, and prison ministries that wish to enter a partnership".6
These new players have brought a whole new understanding of their own invention to the privatization game.
THE SHELL GAME
"Prison Partnership has formed a task force to help us develop the infrastructure of the program. Members of the task force include local Habitat affiliates, Habitat for Humanity International's regional staff, prison ministries, administrators of correctional facilities, correctional staff, liaisons to elected officials, and former offenders."
One of the key players is the American Correctional Association (ACA). ACA is well known as the rubber stamp for private prisons and Prisoner abuse. Routinely the Warden will smile and point at ACA accreditation while Prisoners Constitutional Rights are violated. In fact the accreditation certificate is used as an affirmative defense in Civil Rights lawsuits even though it isn't worth the paper it is printed on. In the future Ms. Ta hopes that the AFL-CIO will be involved. "A goal (emphasis added) of Prison Partnership is to work with correctional facilities to establish a certification program whereby, upon the completion of a certain number of hours or upon the achievement of a certain level of competence, offenders would receive a certificate recognizing them as apprentices or journeymen. Prison Partnership plans (emphasis added) to enter a long-term partnership with the Correctional Educators Association and the AFL-CIO's Building Trade Association."7 In short, Prisoners are not provided any type of documentation for participating. Surely then they must get wages or something off their sentence. "The partnering offenders do not receive credit, other forms of sentence reduction, or tangible benefits in exchange for volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Nevertheless, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is so popular at some participating correctional facilities that there is a waiting list for the offenders to get on a Habitat crew!"8 The reality of the situation is that hey do the same thing for watching TV in the day room and anything beats sitting on concrete and steel watching paint dry or working on a road gang in 100 degree temperatures.
There are two variations of this shell game. The first is the Midwest model where Prisoners prefabricate the building components from material brought behind the walls by the local Habitat affiliate under the supervision of a vocational educational instructor. The affiliate then picks up the finished part. The Texas model allows Prisoners to work onsite with free world volunteers. For public relations sake I doubt they ear chains or are watched by Officers on horseback with shotguns. That would be so tacky.
With both models the only direct, immediate benefit for Prisoners is that it is far more interesting then watching Days of Our Lives.
THE GAME REVEALED
Like any good huckster, Habitat has an excellent patter and a couple of shills each with their own motive for being part of the game. "Prison Partnership expands the potential for offender-volunteers, homeowners, and free-world volunteers to touch one anther's lives. Through their partnership with Habitat for Humanity, offenders find opportunities to rebuild their lives, develop marketable job and interpersonal skills, and learn new ways of acting and being in community."9 Christine Ta Director, Prison Partnership-Habitat for Humanity International. There it is Convict. If you want to be a more sensitive type then step right on up. When the Parole Board asks how you spent you time you can proudly say you discovered your sensitive side. Where is the paper work? Uh gee I have this letter from Christina. Did I work on what you told me to do the last time? Well no, quite frankly I was to busy learning how to be sensitive person with Christina. Out the door you go see your in five years. But take heart as the smell of feet and farts hits your nose you have marketable skills. Sad thing is that you are the only one who knows you have them. As you stare down at your tray, wondering what the hell is that gray looking stuff you can take heart because you have touched someone's life, developed your interpersonal skills to a point where you can now say in a sensitive manner "Oh please Mr. Corrections officer, don't beat me". But your pockets are empty, and you have fond memories of playing the game.
The ACA plays number one shill in this game because it can now claim it is actively involved in rehabilitation of Prisoners when upon closer examination this is at best a slight misstatement. There is nothing rehabilitative about this program. Yes any time that A Prisoner can find relief even for a few days from the negative environment of incarceration especially in Texas then that is a benefit. But it is only temporary.
Future AFL-CIO participation in this game as the number two shill because it can then say it is meeting its community responsibility because of its involvement with out really addressing the negative implications such a shell game has on its membership. Any time that unpaid Prisoner labor is used will have negative implications for members of organized labor. The impact is greatly diminished because in this instance it is being done by a non-profit.
The AFL-CIO is desperate to clean up its image. Presently union labor is used to build supermax prisons and control units. This type of incarceration has been proven to be nothing less then sensory depravation chambers designed to drive a Prisoner insane.
In a September 17, 2000 letter to the National Communications Officer, Ross Regent a Nevada activist points out "It is inconsistent when these same unions state publicly-they care about the oppression of human rights, when in fact their union members profit from building these horror chambers."
As word of AFL-CIO involvement in torturing Prisoners becomes wider knowledge it will become necessary to balance the negative fall out with something positive. A working relations with Habitat may fit such a bill.
What has been created is a future business model solidly constructed on the capitalist principles of production and delivery. If we return briefly to the model which Habitat has created and substituted the word affiliate with client this point becomes crystal clear.
The first is the Midwest model where Prisoners prefabricate the building components from material brought behind the walls by the Client (local Habitat affiliate) under the supervision of a vocational educational instructor. The Client (local Habitat affiliate) then picks up the finished part.<
You can call it a training program or rehabilitation. The bottom line though is that a tiger is not a dog and Habitat's Partnership agreement is fraught with negative implications for society as whole.
10 YARDS SHORT OF THE FINISH LINE
As well meaning as the Prison Partnership is, it is full of holes and as now constructed is a shell game. The lack of documentation of completion or even a structure that is beneficial to the individual Prisoner are two areas that must be addressed immediately. The current participation of Educational institutions must be broadened as a base for a revamped program. A definite criteria must be the linchpin for certification awards. The AFl-CIO must extend paid apprenticeship programs to ALL participants. In order to blockade this model from being used by private enterprises, no matter how well meaning, Prisoners must
1.) Allowed to join organizations of economic self-defense.
2.) Paid a sustainable wage.
A definite measuring stick of success or failure rate of program participants must be formulated including post-release tracking.In addition to all these professional, Prisoner Rights advocates must be allowed to independently monitor this program including but not limited to investigating complaints about the program.
Anything short of this insures that Free World jobs will be sentenced to Prison and allow the present shell game to continue despite its detrimental consequences.
BREAK THE MACHINE
While many people have been assisted by Habitat it is clear that it's Prison Partnership is a type of scheme that can be used to disguise outsourcing of free world employment by masquerading it as a training program. It is reasonable to state that XYZ Packaging incorporated could use Habitats Prison Partnership as a business model. Your Public Relations Department states emphatically that we are not exploiting anyone, why we are doing the socially responsible thing by training offenders to package products for blind people. But when Joe convict is back on the streets he finds out that his XYZ experience is for naught because it is not documented and more importantly does not even start to mirror a Free World environment. But if Mr. Convict had a certificate of completion from Billy Bob Community college then and only then would he be able to prove labor is worth purchasing by a Free World establishment.
For organized labor the Partnership represents a direct threat to its standard of living and the gains that we have won and as such must be opposed. We can no longer remain silent while scab contractors exploit our incarcerated Sister and Fellow Workers by such schemes. Today rank and file must take a firm stand that we will not continue to build institutions of torture where Prisoners are caged in sensory depravation units.
For Prisoners and their families the program represents no more then pie in the sky. A hope that through direct participation one will acquire employable skills and a prison record that will lead to eventual release. The empty promises of the Prison Partnership program is macabre shell game played on those who are most vulnerable and desperate.
But the nagging question that remains unanswered is Does the implementation of the Prison Partnership Program mean a fundamental change for Habitat for Humanity? A shift in focus from dependence on volunteer labor to that of Prison slaves?
The machine that is being slowly fine tuned is disguised as assisting those in great need and creating a beneficial program for society. In fact what is being slowly fine tuned is a juggernaut which threatens the continued economic livelihood of every working family not only in the United States but internationally.
Now is the time for all to answer the battle cry and support the right of Prisoners to organize. For if we do not then we are all doomed to finding employment behind the prison walls.
1 http://www.habitat.org/how/historytext.html
2 http://www.koinoniapartners.org/Enter.htm
3http://www.habitat.org/how/historytext.html
4 http://www.habitat.org/how/millard.html
5From forwarded e-mail response to concerns raised by a Florida activist.
6From forwarded e-mail response to concerns raised by a Florida activist
7 From forwarded e-mail response to concerns raised by a Florida activist.
8From forwarded e-mail response to concerns raised by a Florida activist
9From forwarded e-mail response to concerns raised by a Florida activist