In California, incarcerated people legally have to work. You could be a clerk, a janitor, a podcast producer, or work in the canteen. Some of those jobs might be more appealing than others, but no matter the job, the rates are set by law. Another thing they have in common? The next-to-nothing pay.
In this episode, Uncuffed gets down to business about prison jobs and involuntary servitude.
So when you go back to society, you have a disadvantage in the things that are available to you, but yet you're spending all these years in prison using your labor, and that labor is not being used to help prepare you for the society you're going back to.Steve Brooks
This episode was produced by Ryan Pagan and Anthony Ivy, with help from Ninna Gaenlser-Debs, Angela Johnston, and sound designer Eric Maserati-E Abercrombie.
This piece was brought to you by the team at Uncuffed. Our work in prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and donations from listeners like you. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. Content is approved by an information officer.
Follow @WeAreUncuffed on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more, sign up for Uncuffed news, and support the program at www.weareuncuffed.org
A transcript will be available here within a week.
