By Jason Renard Walker, Deputy Minister of Labor – NABPP-PC
MODERN DAY SLAVE LABOR IN A VACUUM
Since the
birth of the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC), now called the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), Texas has used a not so subtle tool of
profit and anti-social control to exploit its captives via unpaid forced labor.
This method, both grassroots scholars and many average laymen agree on, is akin
to a benign form of slavery – thus to say modern day slave labor.
In fact
Texas’ first form of prison management was on former slave plantations. Some of
these prisons are still up and running, like the Huntsville Unit which opened
its doors in the mid 19th century.
If it wasn’t
for the induction of the 13th amendment which legalized slavery (as
long as one was convicted of a crime and sent to prison) It would have been a
hard bargain for prisons to profit off of the prisoners.
This is
because any unfair or below minimum wage pay could be challenged in civil
courts simply enough. Prisoners could refuse to work in droves, which would
send an economical blow to the prison industrial complex (PIC). This dilemma
also made in prison labor unions, workstrikes , and organizing to achieve these
ends a violation of prisons rules and a frivolous claim in state and federal
civil court.
Texas
revolutionized and dominated the art of exploitation and for profit prison
management to such an extent that it became the pre and post Cold War poster
child for self sufficiency and get rich for cheap schemes. Other state prisons
began modeling their system off of this newly discovered scam. Texas was also
the first state to operate a private prison.
In short it
is here in Texas where it was first realized that (despite the methods and work
conditions that killed prisoners) it is more fruitful to run a state prison
system strictly through the means of being self reliant and at the cost of
forced unpaid labor. This in fact occurred after a 1902 investigation revealed
that prisoners were being rented out to farmers in exchange for currency.
Farmers gave kickbacks if allowed to work the men harder (convict leasing).
In Don
Umphrey’s The Meanest Man in Texas, he laid out a very good description on how
rough Texas prisoners had it before and after the conclusion of the 1902
investigation: “Twice in the twentieth century there had been investigations
into the TDC that had focused on cruelty and inhumane conditions under which prisoners
were forced to work. Prisoners had substituted on skimpy diets; many had been
beaten or worked to death. The cause of death for those who died at the hand of
an overzealous guard was usually listed as natural cause.”
As I noted
in an earlier exposé on forced labor in Texas, every function of the prison is
run by or operated via prison labor – that is everything short of running the
cellblocks.
But even
this type of guard work was done by prisoners at one point. An example is noted
in the ruling of Ruiz v Estelle that
was filed by David Ruiz in 1972. His plan was to expose the grim nature of
guard on prison and (guard provoked) prisoner-on-prisoner violence.
There was
an act of state wide corruption by prison guards and their promoting the use of
“inmate politicians” and “building tenders” to run the prisoner and control the
prisoners in an unbounded fashion. Besides terrorizing the prisoners they were
the ones who opened and closed the cell doors and other doors prisoners had to
pass through.
The
favorable results from the Ruiz ruling
weren’t permanent and eventually forgotten about by the court system. But it
did cause a shallow overhaul of how the prison was run, a benign change of
policies and most notably a reform of the disciplinary procedures and process;
which prevented the accusing office from being on the jury panel and punishment
board, which ultimately always resulted in the prisoner being found guilty of
an offense. And given maximum punishment.
While most
of the prisons aren’t as violet as they were pre 90s, the work expectations and
the work conditions are pretty much the same. This is just a fraction of the
topic of slave labor.
CAPT FISHER AND HER PIG PROXY ON THE HIGH HORSE
Besides
field labor, kitchen work is another daunting task that requires maximum
strength and effort. Not surprising I was thrown in the kitchen with the task
of working the pot room.
This
particular prison is among the top five biggest in the state. With that comes a
big kitchen. And big responsibilities.
As I
stepped through the entrance door the first thing I noticed was a pickett like
office in the center of the kitchen. It stood close to six feet off the ground,
so that those inside stood above and looked down on the laborers. Often laughing
and pointing at mistake prone workers.
With
Hitler-like tyranny, Capt Fisher and her all so faithful pig proxy stood in the
window glaring at the workers. I took this as her attempt to insure nothing was
stolen or eaten. And the proxies attempt to exercise his privilege; while
eating a plate full of bbs ribs, scallop potatoes and what looked like a
marinara sauce.
After about
a ten minute wait the proxy stepped out and handed me, what seemed to be, safety
training forms. “Sign your initials in the highlighted areas” he said then went
back inside with Fisher, who’d grabbed a plate of ribs for herself.
I noticed
the forms stated that by signing my initials I agreed that I was properly
trained. Due to any injury I suffer while at work being a disciplinary case,
for unsafe work habits, I made the ultimate mistake of entering the pickett, to
ask for training.
“Hey you
get out of here, can’t you read” I was told. The door was slammed shut in my
face and the food service manager, Mr. Briscoe, pointed to a sign taped on the
door which stated that any problem we have we need to speak to one of the floor
officers first before we try to contact the Captain. This is so that she’s not
disturbed while gossiping, etc.
After
Fisher left I was allowed to go in the pickett to ask my question. “Oh man you
gone make me train you” Briscoe said who looked like he been in the kitchen 300
lb too long. To satisfy his laziness I signed my initials and was sent back to
the pod.
THE WORK OF THREE MEN
My first
week of work told the tale about how the pot room has been operating for quite
some time – overworking prisoners. Once prisoner said they’d been complaining
about this for months. Others quit when it was exposed that the lack of help
was deliberate.
For this
particular position we are suppose to have a total of eleven workers, but
instead there is usually three or four of us. This results in each one of us
doing the work of three men. This is a problem that Fisher and her ilk are
aware of but like she stated “I know we working the shit out of yall but you’ll
get used to it.” I note that our assigned work hours are from 4am to 12pm.
The food is
served out of cafeteria style inserts which we have to load on a cart from the
four chow halls. We dump out the excess food; wash them and their lids; then
put them on the racks to be re-used, large pots and cornbread pans are also
picked up.
Due to the
large number of prisoners, the pans are always backed up while we’re constantly
working to keep up.
No food
break for us. The only opportunity we have to eat is whenever an insert comes
through that still has scraps left in it. We are actually expected to pick out
of the pans as we collect them and have routinely done so just to eat.
Just
imagine hands of filth digging in and eating out of an insert full of bare pig
bones in search of some that still may have a little meat on them. That’s us! It’s
inhumane but seen as normal. Others from different stations will even stop by,
insert chasing.
Just today,
March 7th 2018, for one reason or another the cart used to pick up
the inserts was gone. I believe this was a cynical act by someone since it was
cabbage day and I was the one picking up the inserts.
This caused
the work to be extremely difficult as I had to hand carry the inserts to the
pot room. Those that contained cabbage were filled with its juice, making them
heavy. None of the food service officers had any interest in locating another
cart. I was told to “man-up”.
AN UNSANITARY WORK PLACE
The food
that is cooked in the kitchen is not only served to the prisoners. There is an
officer dining room (ODR) were officers, nurses, commissary staff, mailroom
staff, and other civilians stop by to eat during their break.
Given that
the pot room is lacking in manpower, kitchen officers don’t expect us to
actually clean the pans according to policy. Their interest isn’t in exercising
sanitary cleaning habits, but merely making everything look as if it’s clean. “Just
rinse it off” I was told by the sanitary officer when I pointed out spoiled raw
chicken stuck.
Greasy
pans: those with week old chunks of raw chicken stuck to them; roach feces and a
lot more that I won’t name are used to reissue food. Since the ODR has
eloquently made food out of pork and chicken, I’m surprised none of them have
contracted a food borne illness. Cross contamination between raw and cooked
meat is common.
I’ve often
had to run off large cockroaches, measuring well over an inch long, away from
the pans. I’ve even had to scrape their feces off of the pans. Many pans I
simply didn’t have the time to get to.
These pests
are colonized throughout the kitchen and are obviously domesticated and used to
human contact. They just stroll along and pay us no mind. As staff pay them no
mind.
Upon someone
opening a box containing cans of greens, I saw well over twenty roaches run and
hide. I’ve seen many find their way into the inserts that were being sent out.
If you’ve ever had a bug in your food this is how they get there.
I must also
remind you that this prison has a hospice wing. One which is for terminally ill
prisoners e.g. those with advanced Hep C, AIDS, etc., so these unsanitary
feeding habits may have an effect on those with low immune systems.
I believe
there should be a surprise investigation by the health department because
Fisher is promoting food service habits that can get prisoners as well as staff
sick or possibly killed. Their effort to consolidate prison work is the root to
all this.
Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win! All Power to the People
Jason Renard Walker #1532092
Michael Unit
2664 FM 2054
Tennessee Colony, TX 75886
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