The government signed the lives of inmates over to private corporations fixated on profit.
Private penitentiaries like the CCA outsource prison labor to gain the greatest profit from each convict. Inmates of state-run prisons are allowed to work up to eight hours a day (not including over hours) and earn up to two dollars an hour. As a result, these convicts are able send home an average of $300 a month. The inmates of the CCA, however, may work for a maximum of six hours a day earning an average of 17 cents and hour. CCA convicts can only earn an average $20 a month. The highest salary offered by the CCA to inmates is 50 cents an hour for "highly skilled positions." Similar or equal wages and circumstances are seen in other private penitentiaries such as Aramark and Geo Group. We clearly comprehend the private prison labor force is underpaid, but the most important distinction among private and state is who the labor force benefits. The government owns state penitentiaries thus the state-run prison labor force preforms jobs for the government. For example, convicts assemble military helmets, dog tags, body armor, and other military supplies. Private prison workers, however, are outsourced to global corporation. The CCA provides labor to companies like IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. The heart of American corporations relies on prison labor due to its extreme inexpensive costs. Companies have even moved their assembly lines to the U.S. for the sol purpose of using prison labor, while private prisons turn a massive profit. In 2011 the Correction Corporation of America earned 1.7 billion dollars in total revenue. The CEO of CCA, Damon T. Hininger, received a 3.7 million dollar executive compensation in 2011. Private prisons make millions of dollars for selling their labor and still the laborers earn next to nothing.
