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In Maine, prisoners are thriving in remote jobs

(www.mainepublic.org)
245 points voxadam | 2 comments | 22 Sep 25 22:51 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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cl0ckt0wer ◴[22 Sep 25 23:04 UTC] No.45340714[source]▶
On the one hand, prisoners being coerced to work is payment for their crimes. On the other hand, that job would have gone to someone else at market rates. This kind of thing drags down the market rates.

We really need to get rid of the exception in the 13th amendment.

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charcircuit ◴[22 Sep 25 23:37 UTC] No.45340984[source]▶
>This kind of thing drags down the market rates.

Why would the prison / prisoner charge below market rates for their labor?

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jacobr1 ◴[23 Sep 25 00:14 UTC] No.45341317[source]▶
The prison could, for grift reasons. They can undercut competition because their costs are lower. If a union, or even a market-rate shop needs to pay, say, $20-hour for labor, and the prison can pay $1-hour (or day) they can charge much less, and then pocket the difference. Their advantage isn't a higher quality product just a cheaper one.
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1. charcircuit ◴[23 Sep 25 01:33 UTC] No.45341833[source]▶
Why not charge the same and pocket a larger difference?
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2. jacobr1 ◴[26 Sep 25 21:21 UTC] No.45391145[source]▶
Why would someone buy services from a prison vs an established company. Presumably the quality would be worse and there is a potential risk to reputation. The answer would be because the prison is substantially cheaper due to not needing to abide by labor laws. There are plenty of services where I'd be willing for forgo (some) quality for significant costs decreases.