BREAKING NEWS! Material (c) by Bob Sloan, 2010
August 21, 2010 - Posted an opinion article on my blog @: http://sloan-wwwpiecp-violations.blogspot.com/, title "Corporations, Prisons and Politics" linking all three to the current situation involving private prisons and prison industries. Interesting and informative piece involving such corporate giants as AT&T, Koch Industries, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, American Bail Coalition, Bayer, GlazoSmithKline, Pfizer, etc., partnered with and funding 2000 conservative state lawmakers in successful efforts to create state laws benefiting the corporate partner's profits. The main players are all directly involved with the current situation involving Arizona's SB1070 ("Breathing While Brown") immigration law.
July 7, 2010 - Uploaded "Private Corporations Partnered with Prison Industries" file to the PIECP Site Files page. This document provides up to date listing of those US and Canadian Private Corporations now involved in using inmate or prison labor to manufacture, package or provide services to the public and private markets. Identifies products and gives location of the prison facility used by the corporations as well as sub-corporations used to avoid disclosing prison labor uses to the public.
June 1, 2010 - US Senator Carney called for authorities to look into the military helmets made by federal prison industry (UNICOR) inmates for the armed forces. The government recently recalled 44,000+ of these helmets due to their failing a ballistics test. The helmet contract is held by a private company ArmorSource, of Hebron, Ohio and subcontracted to UNICOR, who has first right of refusal on government contracts. UNICOR immediately waived that right and ArmorSource will manufacture those 44,000 helmets plus approximately another 200,000 that are back logged. Media articles on this issue announced that two private sector companies in Pennsylvania and Ohio expect to hire as many as 380 workers to fulfill the contracts. See: http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x433574704/Helmet-recall-could-lead-to-Valley-jobs.
As PIECP-Violations has been saying for years, the prison industries have taken many private sector jobs from hard working Americans. The loss of this single contract of military helmets is a perfect example of the kinds and numbers of jobs lost and the impact on private sector manufacturing by prison labor. Currently there are hundreds of corporations partnered with prison industry to use inmate labor and save on wages and benefits. These corporations and companies that have moved operations behind prison walls and fences hold thousands of government and private sector contracts for manufacture or services.
It is imperative that we make every effort to remove prison labor from manufacturing of products sold and distributed to consumers and other businesses nationwide. President Obama's administration is looking frantically for a way to increase jobs for the working folks who are languishing on unemployment. A big reason for the increased unemployment is jobs lost to prison industries. If these jobs can be taken back by the private sector, hundreds an possibly thousands of unemployed Americans will be able to return to the work place and earn a living once again.
A step toward accomplishing the return of jobs to private sector is to enforce the existing federal regulations that allow private manufacturers to partner with prison industrys. The laws are being ignored by participating industries and their partners as well as the Bureau of Justice Assistance who has ultimate oversight over the PIECP program (18 USC 1761[C]). Until and unless we citizens raise our voices to the Department of Justice and the White House, the status quo will remain and jobs will continue to disappear behind prison fences.
IF PIECP laws are followed and enforced big corporations such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Victoria's Secret and others will make the same decision that Dell Computers made: to stop using prison labor. Right now with PIECP guidelines being ignored, it is financially advantageous to these manufacturers to use PIECP and prisoner labor. If participants had to pay prevailing wages - as required but unenforced - pay unemployment and workers compensation premiums - as required and unenforced - and pay prisoners for their labor on products sold inside state lines, these prison industry partnerships would cease. The result would be an immediate hiring campaign in the private sector to replace prison labor now being used to manufacture.
The purpose of PIECP is to train prisoners in job skills, technology and knowledge that will make them better able to become employed upon release. This is the mission goal of the program but it has been ignored for two decades in favor of profits. The Bureau of Justice Assistance continues to turn a blind eye when enforcement is required. Lobbyists and those with precise corporate interests fork over money to ensure that oversight remains blind to their manipulations and the profits continue to roll into corporate coffers while private sector jobs continue to dwindle.
You can help. Email your support for enforcement of PIECP to Julius C. Dupree, Jr. Policy Advisor, at: julius.dupree@usdoj.gov or write or phone/fax Mr. Dupree at: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 810 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC- 20531. Phone: 202/514-1928 (ph) 202/307-0036 (fax). Lend your voices to ours and let's make a real change in our employment situation and return citizens to working for a proper wage.
March 15, 2010 - Nevada citizens should be up in arms about the state's refusal to close the unwanted and unnecessary prison in Carson City, Nevada. This facility is antiquated and takes three times the personnel to operate it than it does to operate more modern facilities built to replace the State Prison at Carson City.
This prison houses 800 inmates that could easily be transferred to other newer prisons built to hold them, but the "politicians" want the prison kept open for fear that of the 165 guards working there, some would not relocate and possibly lose their jobs! All state authorities involved called for the closure of this facility to save Nevada $12 million annually in operating expenses, but to protect 165 blue collar workers (who could relocate to keep their jobs as many of us in the private sector have had to do over the past couple of years), Nevada chose to keep this old, unneeded, outdated and inefficient facility open - at the expense of the Nevada Taxpayers! Read the full article at: http://content.usatoday.com/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=tallahassee&sParam=37852690.story
_________________________________________
The following excerpt is from an article by Peter Gorman reprinted from the Mar. 10, 2010 Ft. Worth Weekly. This article is important to prison industries as CCA and GEO Group's prisons typically have one or more prison industry operations at their facilities. Prisoners who work in those industry facilities are subjected to less pay and worse conditions than allowed under the Federal PIECP program Guidelines. As you read this, keep in mind that it is our - yours and mine - tax dollars supporting this outfit and thus the prison industries they operate.
"Private Prisons, Public Pain "
Despite a long record of abuses, GEO is still running Texas prisons.
The town was home to the world’s first rodeo, the Pecos Kid, and the legendary Judge Roy Bean. Just around the block from the sheriff’s office is a replica of Bean’s office and his single-cell jail.
Wednesday, U.S. Reps. Pete Hoekstra and Dave Camp put out a press release:
The president recently held a “Jobs Summit” at the White House. Topping the agenda was the creation of “green jobs.” With the unemployment rate in Michigan hovering above 15 percent and the nation at 10 percent, a great deal of hope is being thrust upon the renewable energy industry and the promise of “green jobs.”
It appears, however, the administration is content with having those jobs performed by prisoners as opposed to law-abiding citizens.
August 21, 2010 - Posted an opinion article on my blog @: http://sloan-wwwpiecp-violations.blogspot.com/, title "Corporations, Prisons and Politics" linking all three to the current situation involving private prisons and prison industries. Interesting and informative piece involving such corporate giants as AT&T, Koch Industries, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, American Bail Coalition, Bayer, GlazoSmithKline, Pfizer, etc., partnered with and funding 2000 conservative state lawmakers in successful efforts to create state laws benefiting the corporate partner's profits. The main players are all directly involved with the current situation involving Arizona's SB1070 ("Breathing While Brown") immigration law.
July 7, 2010 - Uploaded "Private Corporations Partnered with Prison Industries" file to the PIECP Site Files page. This document provides up to date listing of those US and Canadian Private Corporations now involved in using inmate or prison labor to manufacture, package or provide services to the public and private markets. Identifies products and gives location of the prison facility used by the corporations as well as sub-corporations used to avoid disclosing prison labor uses to the public.
June 1, 2010 - US Senator Carney called for authorities to look into the military helmets made by federal prison industry (UNICOR) inmates for the armed forces. The government recently recalled 44,000+ of these helmets due to their failing a ballistics test. The helmet contract is held by a private company ArmorSource, of Hebron, Ohio and subcontracted to UNICOR, who has first right of refusal on government contracts. UNICOR immediately waived that right and ArmorSource will manufacture those 44,000 helmets plus approximately another 200,000 that are back logged. Media articles on this issue announced that two private sector companies in Pennsylvania and Ohio expect to hire as many as 380 workers to fulfill the contracts. See: http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x433574704/Helmet-recall-could-lead-to-Valley-jobs.
As PIECP-Violations has been saying for years, the prison industries have taken many private sector jobs from hard working Americans. The loss of this single contract of military helmets is a perfect example of the kinds and numbers of jobs lost and the impact on private sector manufacturing by prison labor. Currently there are hundreds of corporations partnered with prison industry to use inmate labor and save on wages and benefits. These corporations and companies that have moved operations behind prison walls and fences hold thousands of government and private sector contracts for manufacture or services.
It is imperative that we make every effort to remove prison labor from manufacturing of products sold and distributed to consumers and other businesses nationwide. President Obama's administration is looking frantically for a way to increase jobs for the working folks who are languishing on unemployment. A big reason for the increased unemployment is jobs lost to prison industries. If these jobs can be taken back by the private sector, hundreds an possibly thousands of unemployed Americans will be able to return to the work place and earn a living once again.
A step toward accomplishing the return of jobs to private sector is to enforce the existing federal regulations that allow private manufacturers to partner with prison industrys. The laws are being ignored by participating industries and their partners as well as the Bureau of Justice Assistance who has ultimate oversight over the PIECP program (18 USC 1761[C]). Until and unless we citizens raise our voices to the Department of Justice and the White House, the status quo will remain and jobs will continue to disappear behind prison fences.
IF PIECP laws are followed and enforced big corporations such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Victoria's Secret and others will make the same decision that Dell Computers made: to stop using prison labor. Right now with PIECP guidelines being ignored, it is financially advantageous to these manufacturers to use PIECP and prisoner labor. If participants had to pay prevailing wages - as required but unenforced - pay unemployment and workers compensation premiums - as required and unenforced - and pay prisoners for their labor on products sold inside state lines, these prison industry partnerships would cease. The result would be an immediate hiring campaign in the private sector to replace prison labor now being used to manufacture.
The purpose of PIECP is to train prisoners in job skills, technology and knowledge that will make them better able to become employed upon release. This is the mission goal of the program but it has been ignored for two decades in favor of profits. The Bureau of Justice Assistance continues to turn a blind eye when enforcement is required. Lobbyists and those with precise corporate interests fork over money to ensure that oversight remains blind to their manipulations and the profits continue to roll into corporate coffers while private sector jobs continue to dwindle.
You can help. Email your support for enforcement of PIECP to Julius C. Dupree, Jr. Policy Advisor, at: julius.dupree@usdoj.gov or write or phone/fax Mr. Dupree at: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 810 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC- 20531. Phone: 202/514-1928 (ph) 202/307-0036 (fax). Lend your voices to ours and let's make a real change in our employment situation and return citizens to working for a proper wage.
March 15, 2010 - Nevada citizens should be up in arms about the state's refusal to close the unwanted and unnecessary prison in Carson City, Nevada. This facility is antiquated and takes three times the personnel to operate it than it does to operate more modern facilities built to replace the State Prison at Carson City.
This prison houses 800 inmates that could easily be transferred to other newer prisons built to hold them, but the "politicians" want the prison kept open for fear that of the 165 guards working there, some would not relocate and possibly lose their jobs! All state authorities involved called for the closure of this facility to save Nevada $12 million annually in operating expenses, but to protect 165 blue collar workers (who could relocate to keep their jobs as many of us in the private sector have had to do over the past couple of years), Nevada chose to keep this old, unneeded, outdated and inefficient facility open - at the expense of the Nevada Taxpayers! Read the full article at: http://content.usatoday.com/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=tallahassee&sParam=37852690.story
_________________________________________
The following excerpt is from an article by Peter Gorman reprinted from the Mar. 10, 2010 Ft. Worth Weekly. This article is important to prison industries as CCA and GEO Group's prisons typically have one or more prison industry operations at their facilities. Prisoners who work in those industry facilities are subjected to less pay and worse conditions than allowed under the Federal PIECP program Guidelines. As you read this, keep in mind that it is our - yours and mine - tax dollars supporting this outfit and thus the prison industries they operate.
"Private Prisons, Public Pain "
Despite a long record of abuses, GEO is still running Texas prisons.
The town was home to the world’s first rodeo, the Pecos Kid, and the legendary Judge Roy Bean. Just around the block from the sheriff’s office is a replica of Bean’s office and his single-cell jail.
Wednesday, U.S. Reps. Pete Hoekstra and Dave Camp put out a press release:
The president recently held a “Jobs Summit” at the White House. Topping the agenda was the creation of “green jobs.” With the unemployment rate in Michigan hovering above 15 percent and the nation at 10 percent, a great deal of hope is being thrust upon the renewable energy industry and the promise of “green jobs.”
It appears, however, the administration is content with having those jobs performed by prisoners as opposed to law-abiding citizens.