"Alabama seems to be addicted to cheap labor," said Robert Earl Council, incarcerated person at Limestone Correctional Facility and founding member of the Free Alabama Movement. "Those who partake in the slave process with Alabama are just as guilty as they are, each corporation, each fast food company."
Ten former and currently incarcerated people, including Council, filed a lawsuit against Alabama in December 2023 alleging that the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has used “modern day slavery” through its “convict leasing” programs that force incarcerated people to work for little or no money while raking in nearly half a million dollars in state revenue each year, according to the lawsuit. The Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW), which is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), along with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and the Woods Foundation, a civil rights organization, are also listed as plaintiffs in the case. The unions are participating even though incarcerated people are prohibited from unionizing under the US Supreme Court’s Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. decision.
RWDSU and USSW’s involvement as plaintiffs in the case is important for two reasons. First, the unions’ name recognition and communications infrastructure will allow the incarcerated plaintiffs’ demands to reach a much broader audience, including some who might not pay attention to the struggle against exploitative prison labor. Unions’ large memberships and political potency can make them important contributors to advancing a cause that involves workers who not only cannot form a union of their own, but are among the most disempowered people in our society.
Second, the movement has a clear interest in protecting the rights of all laborers, regardless of their status with the law. Labor’s deep commitment to human rights cannot end at the prison gates. The movement’s core goal is opposition to all forms of oppression that disadvantage workers, including those imposed by the government. Incarcerated people are workers, just like all others brought together by labor’s causes, and they deserve the attention, support and resources the movement can provide. Worker solidarity must include workers who do not have an opportunity to organize or represent themselves. Incarcerated people cannot form bargaining units of their own, so existing labor unions must use their clout to guide public opinion and legal thinking in a direction that values dignity, equity and fair pay.
It’s also important to note that the constant supply of cheap labor and unabashed willingness to violate human rights in Alabama has depressed the wages and conditions of all workers, not just those who perform prison labor. Operating at 168% of its total capacity of prisoners and potential slave laborers, ADOC has created an uncompetitive jobs market by keeping a sizable amount of the workforce engaged in lowest-of-the-low-wage labor. In short, the workers of Alabama should not have to compete with imprisoned slave laborers.
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The 126-page lawsuit argues that the combination of the state’s labor trafficking system, threats of punishment to intimidate prisoners into working, and disproportionate denial of parole for Black incarcerated people results in violations of the US Constitution, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and Alabama’s recently amended state constitution. The Alabama constitutional amendment prohibits all forms of involuntary servitude and slavery. It was inspired by a constitutional change first made by Colorado with states like Utah, Nebraska, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont following its lead in recent years. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall are listed as defendants in the lawsuit, alongside leadership from the ADOC, Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (Board) and the Alabama Department of Transportation. The lawsuit also lists a number of private manufacturers and fast food restaurants that are accused of benefiting from the use of forced prison labor.
Although the 13th amendment abolished slavery and indentured servitude, it created a loophole that licensed a new form of slave labor: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime…shall exist within the United States.” By allowing forced labor to be used as punishment, this clause of the 13th amendment has given state governments permission to use incarcerated people for free or sub-minimum wage labor with minimal protections and has created broad networks of state-sponsored slavery.
The lawsuit does not seek to end all prison labor. Rather, it seeks protections that ensure imprisoned workers are not forced through intimidation by prison officers or other environmental pressures to work. Lakeira Walker, one of the other plaintiffs in the case, recounted some of her experiences to In These Times, including how she was punished for refusing unwanted sexual advances from a supervisor, paid nearly $8 less per hour than her non-incarcerated co-workers, and presented with the choice between performing prison labor or being placed in solitary confinement. Walker’s disturbing experiences demonstrate the need for workplace protections and oversight for incarcerated workers.
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In March, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held hearings regarding plaintiffs’ motion for an injunction. Plaintiffs argued that by denying parole to Black incarcerated people who would otherwise be granted parole, these people are forced to continue performing prison labor in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Plaintiffs also sought fair payment for labor performed by incarcerated people, release for individuals qualified for parole, and monetary damages to be determined at trial in addition to the injunction. On June 20, the judge denied the temporary stay, writing that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a “racially discriminatory intent or purpose” in the state’s parole system.
Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the incarcerated plaintiffs did not “exhaust administrative remedies” required by the Prison Labor Reform Act’s grievance process and do not have a legal right to air their concerns in court. Plaintiffs responded by laying out their history of filing grievances with the appropriate departments, all of which were left unaddressed. Defendants have until July 31 to respond to the plaintiffs’ reply, at which point the judge will decide whether to dismiss the case.
These legal developments reflect the push and pull of the broader movement to end prison labor through a series of court cases, constitutional amendments, and gradual policy changes. At this turning point, it is crucial for the labor movement to get involved and apply political and economic pressure to the forces that benefit from “modern day slavery” in an effort to protect all workers. By helping to defend prison laborers from abuse, the labor movement would be helping itself, exposing the paradox of state governments that legislate to protect an individual's alleged “right to work” while making money off slave labor. Perhaps more important, the labor movement’s unequivocal condemnation of slave labor is foundational to rejecting the degradation of work and workers while protecting the dignity of all American workers, including those who are forced to work while incarcerated.
The labor movement must follow RWDSU and USSW’s example and step up to play an active role in abolishing forced prison labor from our country. By lobbying state governments to amend their constitutions to prohibit indentured servitude and slave labor without exception, monitoring the enforcement of policy changes and supporting lawsuits filed by incarcerated workers, the movement can prove that worker solidarity includes standing with one of the most exploited classes in the American workforce.
