Through this petition, we seek to end the cruel and inhumane treatment of incarcerated workers by establishing an equitable minimum wage and solidifying legal employment protections for these workers. Section 1 of the 13th Amendment declares that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” After the abolition of slavery, ex-slaver owners used the 13th Amendment to unjustly incarcerate freed Black Americans and force them to do the same work that they had the people they previously enslaved do. Today, Black Americans are still arrested at disproportionate rates and funneled into prisons to work jobs in which the majority are paid between zero and $1.41 an hour. Through the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP), incarcerated people in 37 out of the 1,833 US Prisons can work out in society for private businesses. The average hourly wage of these jobs in 2017 was between $0.33 and $1.41. A more common type of prison labor involves incarcerated people working jobs within their correctional facility. These jobs average an hourly wage of $0.14 to $0.63, and in 8 states, labor in government run prisons can go unpaid. Prisons can also deduct from these already low wages without a person’s consent to pay for fines, court costs, etc.

Creating a minimum wage and safe working conditions for incarcerated workers would lessen the demand private businesses and prisons have created for cheap labor and mass incarceration in our society. It is important for people who are incarcerated to feel a sense of productivity, work towards rehabilitation, and contribute to our society. However, the wages and unfair working conditions they experience is a form of cruel and unusual punishment that is protected by the 13th Amendment and must be changed. Fair wages and working conditions could facilitate their rehabilitation and aid them in their transition as they reintegrate into society after they have served their time. It could allow incarcerated people to afford sanitary products, health care, and other essential items they may need while in prison. It could also allow them to save money to pay off debts, fines, or other payments that may even be the reason they are incarcerated. Most importantly, fair wages and working conditions would decrease the rate in which our nation demands the disproportionate exploitation of Black Americans and other minorities for cheap and unethical labor.