Fallon Requests Info On Jobs Lost To Prison Labor, Clarifies “Gulag” Remark



State
Representative Ed Fallon (D-Des Moines) today requested detailed
information from the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) about how many
jobs are lost to Iowans because of the use of prison labor, and its
economic impact on Iowa and the state budget. Also, in seeking to
clarify his concerns regarding prisoners working at the State liquor
warehouse, Fallon said, “When I was told by a Des Moines Register
reporter about 15-hour days and no supper, the ‘Gulag’ remark just kind
of popped out of mouth. It was an overstatement, and I regret it. But
what I regret most is that people have missed my true concerns about
inmate labor.”



“I feel
strongly that all Iowa prisoners who are able must work. In fact,
nearly 100% of the 8,700 prisoners in Iowa’s correctional facilities
who can work do, most of them eight hours a day. We could further
expand the opportunities for prisoners to work within prison without
taking jobs away from those on the outside by requiring each prison to
produce and process most its own food,” explained Fallon.



“What
bothers me is the use of prison labor by private corporations, and
increasingly by government itself, for jobs that should be – and used
to be – performed by Iowans not in prison,” continued Fallon. “In
the case of the State liquor warehouse, 12 workers just lost
good-paying jobs to prisoners who are paid 37 cents an hour. Currently,
500 state government jobs and 190 private sector positions are being
filled by prisoners.”



Prison
labor is used in many areas of state and local government, including
park maintenance, tree nurseries, cemetery maintenance, State Capitol
grounds work, upkeep at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute, highway
litter clean up, and answering the phone for the Iowa Tourism Bureau.
Private corporations using prison labor include Diamond Vogel, Global
Marketing (a telemarketing firm), Hawkeye Glove, DZ Manufacturing, CGB
Printing, Sully Truck Wash, H & H Trailer, and Misty Harbor.



“Prisoners
ought to work,” said Fallon, “but not at the expense of jobs held by
Iowans struggling to pay their bills and feed their families. Arguments
that using prison labor saves the taxpayers money fail to look at the
whole picture. If your neighbors lose their jobs to prisoners, those
neighbors no longer pay taxes. They’re no longer part of the local
economy. Perhaps they end up on welfare. Maybe they move out of Iowa
altogether. If this is the State’s idea of economic development, I must
be missing something,” concluded Fallon.