Incarcerated Worker sheds light on Prison Labor Conditions during Pandemic

The pandemic has placed a heavy burden on poor and working people all over the world. The effects have been especially tough for those incarcerated here in the so-called United States. The following Narrative relates the experiences of an Incarcerated Individual from their incarcera the Fall of 2021. It offers a unique insight into the life of an incarcerated worker and I am sharing these words as an act of solidarity. For more information please contact me at iwocroc@gmail.com.

Work and Quarantine Behind Bars.

In the course of my time in prison while serving 3 sentences for 3 felonies in three states I have had 6 jobs for what amounts to savings for canteen supplies and what I can save for my eventual release. Although 2 of these jobs (as a line worker to distribute meal trays to inmates ) did not pay more than an extra tray of chow rations a day, I was in fact allowed to work as a janitor, and porter, within my unit in order to mop the entire floor area, metal chess gathering tables, and also cell to cell once a week to assist my fellow inmates with cleaning out their cells. This did award me and my coworkers extra time to associate and discuss our personal lives out of our cells even during mandatory lockdowns. One of my other responsibilities was to wake up at the break of dawn after snowstorms to shovel all of the snow out of the high walled, fenced, roofed rec yard to prepare for daily handball that I always took part in for fun and to help stay in shape for further employment. After my extradition from Nassau County correctional center on Long Island, New York all the way up North, first to Southern State and eventually Northern State in Vermont. ( For a technical Violation of probation) That took 5 days and nights in the back of a Department of Corrections Transportation vehicle, I might add, I was able to take part in educational classes that included an entry exam. These classes did have a professor who taught me a construction math class and an interesting course in world history in which time I received a book called “The Death of Democracy.” In the off hours from education I continued to diligently apply for a job in the industrial kitchen as a dishwasher. When I was hired I had already completed education and became certified in construction math but I was also given a brand new pair of work boots that I am even wearing as I write this article. Unfortunately this job was cut short because of a random change of my facility location to Newport, Vermont. At this time during the Winter of 2019 I had to eventually be transported to Franklin County, Massachusetts for court, but this turned out to be beneficial because I landed my second full time paid position in the Industrial kitchen there as a dishwasher and lineworker per diem. Although I only made a dollar a day in this kitchen, it was very modern with updated equipment, and I was given pseudo-gourmet type food instead of the normal prison chow during my shift and including never ending free coffee from an actual coffee machine!

Eventually, after court and a reasonable sentence, I was then transported back to Northern State where I immediately landed a job in the carpentry factory as only a janitor to start. While I became proficient and more skilled at all the machinery required to earn a spot at a workstation in order to build high quality furniture for state office buildings and for the Vermont army National Guard (VTARNG) And for the first time in my life I began to understand the absolute meaning of what it means to be an employee within the industrial prison-military complex of the United States of America. This did not last long because of lockdown due to the Coronavirus Covid 19 crisis when manufacturing of masks became more important to the local community and inmate population than furniture and my services as a carpenter were no longer needed. Although I was extremely dismayed by the layoffs it was worth my time to become further experienced in a solid trade with hand and power tools such as the drill press, band saw, router, and various table saws. Since I was laid off due tot he Covid-19 Health crisis I used my prior industrial Kitchen experience albeit a short time, to begin working in this same prison as a dishwasher. I worked full time for $2.50 a day, with one day off that I spent at ease to rest. I operated a large spray hose and three large basins to clean a massive amount of pots and pans and empty tin cans for recycling.

I also had to operate an industrial dishwasher that distributes very hot water to sanitize the kitchen equipment that runs on a conveyor belt. I worked at this job seriously for 6 months with access to any leftover food or incoming food I would like to make until I was offered a more suitable job where I removed trash, 3 times a day, as I was required to keep all of the garbage cans in my unit empty and clean while 2 times a day, with a unit co-worker and a C.O., we have to transport the trash through a locked gate on large wheeled carts out to dumpsters in the same area. The wood is contained under canopies and near the parking lot. It is a filthy job and at times may be back breaking work with all its heavy lifting so I remind myself that I should warm up in advance and lift from the knees with a straight back as needed, or else injuries can and have happened.

Now that winter is here and the fact is that this facility utilizes wood and a boiler room to heat our cells during the bitter cold New England Winter I have been hired in the said boiler room to load wood for the remainder of my time, Although it may be a few weeks before I start Because of warm weather. In my free time I enjoy pursuing a hobby trade of machinist horology and I have two books I use to study to prove it, including past experience, and someday I hope to not only hope to own an actual watchmaker’s lathe but also to build clocks to sell for profit as a business as well as repairs to watches and antique clocks. Speaking of Lathes, there is a wood lathe in the carpentry factory, manufactured by general, that I inspected often but all of the turning tools were confiscated due to safety concerns by prison authorities therefore causing the interoperability of the lathe. This machine could have proved useful for a lathe operation review for me. But as mentioned earlier, the covid crisis and safety concerns ruined this opportunity.

For the most part, Inmates remain Individualistic unless they eventually find a tight group of friends based on similar outlooks on life because it may be dangerous to be too open in this environment. When at work I find it is important to try and keep a good sense of humor and to know when you are right, especially when working as a team. It is not uncommon for major fights and serious arguments to occur if and when inmates refuse to to follow these two important unwritten rules of prison employment.

Examples of jobs that I may work in a team are those such as trash removal because of the physical teamwork that is necessary to discard so much garbage, line work in the kitchen so that each inmate worker is responsible for separate foods on separate parts of each tray, and at times to help another inmate carpenter hold a workpiece for cutting, sanding, and other such endeavors. In my experience, the dishwasher job in the kitchen at Northern State was the most individualistic and I sometimes forget that I am even locked up at all.

On another subject, I doubt that Union Organizing would gain any ground in a prison but someday I would like to see small groups of organizers come together to educate other inmate workers on the subject of union work so that it may be more of an option for inmates to look into after incarceration. Also, I believe there should be a separate grievance process for fired workers of minor offenses and “Time-off” should be a mandatory discussion by facility managers if an inmate is presently in, or even considering educational classes whether college or certification. I think that instituting these issues would make time more tolerable for those workers who are experiencing hard times.

Conditions in an institution really comes down to what you can make of it. Some of us are locked up for a very long time while others have only minor offenses, so respect for others goes a long way while you are working at your particular place of employment. Although the income wages are always low I cannot allow myself to forget that actions speak louder than words. And that what I, or we as inmates, do to make our lives more tolerable and rewarding through employment brings me a sense of pride, income, work experience, and the righteous knowledge that tomorrow is not just another day.

The end.

Submitted on this 12th Day of November 2021 by William Klare