Is this a good or a bad idea? They used to ONLY be allowed to sell its labor to the govt. NOW they are allowed to sell to private sector too!
It's hard to compete with workers willing to take pay as low as 23 cents an hour. Do we mean workers in Mexico or China? No. We mean Americans in federal prisons.
An Alabama clothing-maker recently found out just how hard, according to the Myrtle Beach Sun-News: American Apparel of Selma had to lay off 225 workers after it lost a contract for U.S. Army jackets to UNICOR, a $900 million behemoth with 89 factories around the U.S. Its workforce consists entirely of convicts.
If you thought prisoners made only license plates, think again.
UNICOR's workers, according to the government-owned corporation's website, make custom draperies and curtains, mattresses and bedding; furniture, lighting systems, catwalks; fences, towels, shelving, eyewear (both safety and prescription), and trophies. They run help desks and call centers. They process credit cards and provide fleet management services. Oh, and they make license plates.
Federal law requires government agencies to buy products from UNICOR without competitive bidding.
The company, also known as Federal Prison Industries (FPI), is enjoying the kind of growth that might make some for-profit companies envious.
