Skilled American's Jobs May Be in Jeopardy Again

In 1985 one out of every 320 Americans were in jail.
In 1995 one out of every 167 Americans were in jail.
Between1980 and 1994, the number of people in federal and state prisons increased 221%.
Today, 2 million Americans are in prison.
1.2 million are African-American men.

While there is debate over their underlying causes, these staggering statistics are generally thought to result from rigid drug laws, mandatory minimum sentences and increasingly tough legislation— such as California’s "three strikes" law. One fact remains undisputed: prisons have become big business.

The Business of Prison Labor
A prison-industrial complex has emerged. The increased prison population, a strong economy and the tightest labor market in 30 years have given rise to prison privatization and the expanded use of prison labor. Big name corporations compete with each other to underwrite prison construction with private, tax-exempt bonds and without voter approval. More and more states across the country are implementing mandatory labor for inmates, necessitating partnerships with outside industry. These developments fuel a national debate over prison labor practices in the U.S.
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Prison Partners
In the tiny town of Lockhart, Texas a private prison run by Wakenhut (a for-profit private corporation) does business with a company called LTI. In this partnership the prisoners assemble circuit boards bound for hi-tech corporations. For LTI, moving manufacturing to the Lockhart prison was a no-brainer. There they found a captive workforce that did not require benefits or vacation pay, major tax incentives and a brand new assembly plant rented for only a symbolic fee. As a result, LTI’s plant in Austin, Texas was shut down and 150 people lost their jobs. In Michigan, through a similar arrangement, the majority of Brill Manufacturing Company’s workforce lost their jobs to state prison inmates.
http://www.itvs.org/shift/prison.html

A Report on the Injustice System in the USA
Written by: Pauline (a contributing writer to IPFG’s Publication; Payaam Fadaee)
Published in Payame Fadaee, Spring edition 2002

The US ruling class has established the largest forced labour sweatshop system in the world. There are now approximately 2 million inmates in US prisons compared to 1 million in 1994. These prisoners have become a source of billions of dollars in profits. In fact, the US has imprisoned a half million more people than in China which has 5 times the population. California alone has the biggest prison system in the Western industrialized world. It has more prisoners than France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and Holland combined while these countries have 11 times the population of California. According to official figures, Iran incarcerates 220 citizens per 100,000, compared to US figures of 727. Overall, the total "criminal justice" system in the US, including those in prison, on parole and on probation, is approaching 6,000,000. In the last 20 years, 1000 new prisons have been built; yet they hold double their capacity.

Prisoners, 75% of who are either Black or Hispanic, are forced to work for 20 cents an hour, some even as low as 75 cents a day. They produce everything from eyewear and furniture to vehicle parts and computer software. This has lead to thousands of layoffs and the lowering of the overall wage scale of the entire working class. At Soledad Prison in California, prisoners produce work-shirts exported to Asia as well as El Salvadoran license plates more cheaply than in El Salvador, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. A May/99 report in the Wall Street Journal summarized that while “more expensive private-sector workers may lose their jobs to prison labour, assigning work to the most cost-efficient producer is good for the economy.” The February/00 Wall Street Journal reported “Prisoners are excluded from employment calculation. And since most inmates are economically disadvantaged and unskilled, jailing so many people has effectively taken a big block of the nation's least-employable citizens out of the equation.”

Federal Prison Industries (FPI) whose trade name is UNICOR exports prisoner-made products as well as selling them to all federal agencies as required by federal law. FPI manufactures over 150 different products in 99 factories in 64 prisons (with 19 new ones on the way) in 30 states. It is the federal government's 35th largest contractor, just behind IBM and is exempt from any federal workplace regulations.
FPI's prison workforce produces 98% of the entire US market for equipment assembly services, 93% of paint and artist brushes, 92% of all kitchen assembly services, 46% of all personal armour, 36% of all household furnishings and 30% of all headset/microphone/speakers, etc. RW. Feb/00 FPI consistently advertises for companies "interested in leasing a ready-to-run prison industry" especially following congressional testimony in 1996 that reported a "pent-up demand for prison labour." Meanwhile, shareholders profiting from prison labour consistently lobby for the legislation of longer prison sentences in order to expand their workforce. At least 37 states have legalized the contracting out of prison labour to private corporations that have already set up operations inside state prisons. Prisons' business clients include: IBM, Boeing, Motorola Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, Texas Instruments, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom, Revlon, Macys, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, etc.
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California, with the third largest penal system in the world after China and the US as a whole, spends more on prisons than on the entire educational system. In recent years, California's university and college system cut back 8,000 employees while its Department of Corrections added 26,000. CA has built 19 prisons vs. 1 university in the past 10 years. The state spends up to $60,000 per year to incarcerate a young person, while only spending $8,000 per year to educate the same youth. Politicians in the state debate whether the death penalty should be applied to 13-year-olds or whether it should be applied "only" to those 14 and up. And new proposals to construct mega-prisons that would hold up to 20,000 inmates each is ‘justified’ by David Myers, West Coast regional president of the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison corporation in the US. He told a reporter that he is building 3 new prisons entirely on speculation because "If you build it in the right place, the prisoners will come. RW. Dec/00 In 1994, California passed a "three strikes and you're out" law. That law alone led to the need for 20 new prisons just to handle the increase in inmates. Over 30,000 people in CA have been sentenced to double the normal sentence under the "second-strike" provision of the law and the California Department of Corrections has published statistics documenting 62% of third-strike convictions are for non-violent offences. During the 17 years leading up to 1994 (when three strikes went into effect), the California legislature passed more than 1,000 bills lengthening sentences or defining new crimes. Not surprisingly, these same years showed a 600% increase in California's prison population - from 19,000 to 159,000 where over 70% of the prisoners are Black, Latino or of other oppressed nationalities. The law rules that two prior felony convictions mandates 25 years to life for a third conviction no matter what the prescribed sentence for that third offence. Third offenders have been given that sentence for shoplifting a pair of pants, stealing a bicycle or merely a piece of pizza.
http://www.ashrafdehghani.com/articles-eng...

http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/edu/hedo&i6-133.000/hedo&i6-133.htm
STATEMENT OF JOSEPH M. ARAGON, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, UNICOR, FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES, PRESIDENT, ProServ CORP., AURORA, COLORADO

FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES: PROPOSED MILITARY CLOTHING PRODUCTION EXPANSION- ASSESSING EXISTING PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS, BUSINESS, AND FPI’S FEDERAL AGENCY "CUSTOMERS"

HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, OCTOBER 5, 2000
Serial No. 106-133 Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
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I serve as the Chairman of FPI's Board of Directors, a board that the President of the United States appointed me to approximately 6 years ago. By way of introduction, let me first provide with you a brief overview of the Board of Directors. Pursuant to Federal statute, FPI's Board of Directors is composed of six members representing industry, labor, agriculture, retailers and consumers, the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General. The board consists of a wide variety of accomplished individuals each of whom have been appointed by this President and serve without compensation.
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/edu/hedo&i6-133.000/hedo&i6-133.htm

Key financials for Federal Prison Industries, Inc.
Company Type Government Agency
Fiscal Year-End September
2005 Sales (mil.) $833.6
1-Year Sales Growth (5.2%)
2005 Net Income (mil.) $64.5
1-Year Net Income Growth 1.4%
2005 Employees 19,720
1-Year Employee Growth 2.0%

CEO Harley G. Lappin
COO Steve Schwalb
Controller Bruce Long

HARLEY G. LAPPIN
DIRECTOR
FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS
Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on April 4, 2003. He is a career public administrator in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the seventh Director of the Bureau since its establishment in 1930. He is responsible for the oversight and management of the Bureau’s 114 institutions and for the safety and security of the more than 193,500 inmates under the agency’s jurisdiction.

http://www.unicor.gov /
The Services Business Group has a full range of services to meet your labor needs. Our goal is to be the #1 source for services to Federal Government, federal contractors, and commercial firms.
Fleet Management & Vehicular Components
Federal Prison Industries provides a full array of customized fleet modernization programs ranging from tactical vehicle & vehicular components remanufacturing (RESET), commercial vehicle upfitting and de-retrofitting to web-based fleet asset services for fleets ranging from fifty to thousands of vehicles.FPI has been a premium provider of fleet management and vehicular components remanufacturing services to the federal government since 1997. It has a unique understanding of the federal environment working closely with Armed Services, Defense Department and Homeland Defense agencies and broad experience across DoD and civilian agency fleets.
The Industrial Products Business Group provides a diverse product offering.
The Office Furniture Business Group offers a full range of office furniture options,
from reception areas to executive suites.
UNICOR…Participating in a GREEN SOLUTION
UNICOR's unique, full service recycling program is an integrated part of a national e-scrap solution. UNICOR's commitment to the environment extends to its vendors, who are required to sign no-landfill certifications, follow a restrictive export policy, and agree to site inspections.
With nationwide locations and nearly 1200 highly trained workers, UNICOR offers exceptional value and competitive pricing. UNICOR provides recycling activities to federal, state, and local governments, schools, not-for-profit organizations and private industry while protecting the environment.
-Through ISO and IAER Certification processes, UNICOR's operational procedures comply with all laws and regulations, demonstrate commitment to pollution prevention, are environmentally sound and conserve resources.
The Clothing and Textiles Business Group provides a wide assortment of products from a variety of materials. These include products for medical, military apparel, law enforcement, and lodging needs.
UNICOR/FPI Electronics Group
UNICOR/FPI's nationwide network of factories are fully equipped and staffed to manufacture electronics and electrical products for the most demanding military, federal agency and commercial us
Blockhouse/UNICOR Partnership
Blockhouse Inc.- A manufacturer and marketer of dormitory and quarters furniture, will be UNICOR's agent for sales and marketing, field representation, customer service, delivery coordination and scheduling, invoicing, performing installation, GSA packaged room, and collaboration on advertising and ongoing product development for dormitory and quarters furniture.
Filtration Services, Inc.Filtration Services is an industrial filter distributor and filtration service company. We have over 10 years experience representing 6 major manufacturer's product lines. In addition to servicing offices, schools, medical facilities, manufacturing and painting operations; we recently teamed with UNICOR to provide federal government facilities throughout the U.S. with office and commercial air filter services meeting requirements unique to federal government sites
Nightingale - Since 1928, Nightingale's mission is to design and manufacture office seating solutions that are extremely comfortable, ergonomic, affordable, and are build to last with quality materials and workmanship. The design award winning XO Series of office chairs offers a new standard for ergonomic mesh seating.
HumanScale - Their mission is to design and manufacture products that encourage computer users to adopt low-risk body postures - creating a healthier, more comfortable and more productive work environment. The freedom office chair offers a revolutionary advancement in the area of ergonomic seating.
OEI - Office systems furniture specialists, offering product lines from basic workstations to designer components, in up-to-date fabrics and privacy paneling.
Titmus Brand Prescription Eyewear Frames Titmus is the largest manufacturer of prescription protective eyewear in the world. Since 1958, Titmus has produced prescription and safety prescription frames in fashionable, yet durable styles. UNICOR manufactures prescription lenses and then assembles lenses and frames. Various quality checks are completed before shipping prescription glasses. Titmus also maintains a nationwide network of over 5,000 Optometrists which is available to UNICOR's customers for selecting frame styles and fitting.
Systems 290 Signage-2/90 Sign Systems is the flexible response to the demand for modular interior and exterior facility signage.