California using Prisoner Slave Labor to fight Wildfires ?!

https://www.newsweek.com/california-...outhern-748618

The article presents 2 numbers -

per CA "Corrections" -
"1,500 inmate firefighters on fire lines today in #LA, #Ventura and #SanBernardino counties. Crews are from as far as #Mendocino, the #SanFrancisco#BayArea and #SantaCruz. All inmate firefighters are volunteers, working 24 hour shifts in an effort to cut containment lines"

per PBS -
"According to KPBS, approximately 3,700 of the firefighters fighting wildfires in the state of California are prisoners, both male and female."

"As for what happens to the inmate firefighters once their sentences are up, convicted felons are barred from that line of service once they are no longer in prison."

re Hazards faced by inmate firefighters, who have less training than their un-incarcerated co-workers -
" In 2017, according to KQED, the only two state firefighters who died on duty were prisoners. As KQED reports, one of these inmates was a man named Frank Anya, who fell on an active chainsaw."

(Newsweek missed a firefighter suicide that involved a professional firefighter jumping off of Highway 8 overpass in San Diego, and seem to have omitted Cory Iverson's death, in this particular article.)

Is California trying to compete with China on the Prisoner Slave Labor front ?


California displays enormous lack of gratitude to the people who risk their lives to save the homes of wealthy Californians.


What is Fair treatment, in this context ?

I would say, fair treatment is something like, lose 1 week off their sentence for every day of firefighting service (noting that those are 24 hour days.)

Because re-integration into the community is Job #1 for prisoners who have completed their sentence, why would they NOT be given first-in-line status to apply for fire-fighting jobs upon release ?


References -

"On Sunday November 5 we lost another wildland firefighter to the suicide epidemic."
https://wildfiretoday.com/2017/11/07/we-lost-another-firefighter/

https://wildfiretoday.com/2017/11/04...-astronomical/

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/10/wildland-firefighter-suicide/544298/

Prisons are not noted for "fairness". It's a big business operation, and they'll use prisoners in whatever way they want, with no offer of compensation. It's an industry not known for compassion or justice. Prisoners will be used, and discarded to the heap like trash.

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Posted in reply to the post by Hot Compost:

CALIFORNIA FIRES: MEET THE PRISONER FIREFIGHTERS WHO ARE BATTLING THE FLAMES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

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I've fought fires in Georgia and Alabama also as a volunteer, however I was in the U.S. Army and not a prisoner. It is one of the hardest physical activities I've ever engaged in. I agree the prisoners in CA should get more as a result of their efforts.
I'm wondering why you used the sensationalist term "Slave Labor" in your headline when these people were clearly volunteers?

I imagine that the prisoners are volunteering to get out of confinement and do something else out of prison. I think it's a good thing to help out when it's needed. We pay taxes for those prisoners to be sheltered, fed, and legal support.
Maybe it's their way of wanting to give back, nothing wrong with that. By the way not all Californians are wealthy. Most people that live here are not from here. California is beautiful and we would like to keep it that way. These fires are the worst ever for our state, I am very grateful for all the firefighters including the prisoner volunteers for helping fight these historical fires in our state. Never before have we had to deal with such massive fires like these in our state. We needed all the help we could get, and I think it's great that some prisoners stepped up to help out. That's far from what you seem to think of as "slave labor"

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Posted in reply to the post by Ronaldo:

I'm wondering why you used the sensationalist term "Slave Labor" in your headline when these people were clearly volunteers?

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COERCION - at the time of their arrest, and during their stay in prison.

and, Lack of Choice.

The set changes - there's no auction of a chained slave, as in movies of the US "Old South".

But the plot stays the same, for the people who are coerced & have no genuine alternatives.


I would also use the term Slave Labor to describe many, perhaps most, of the laborers that assemble the electronics Americans purchase.

I’ve worked with California inmates, most recently as part of a two year project establishing a permanent program in Solano State Prison to determine whether changing prison culture (more humane, more job training, teaching public speaking skills, etc.) can reduce recidivism rates (spoiler alert: Yes, of course it does).

Getting a job with the fire crew was a highly valued and difficult-to-get assignment. Those lucky enough to be assigned to a fire crew had more freedom, better pay, better food, excellent on-the-job training and a sense of pride about being of value to their community.

All inmates are underpaid, dehumanized and in most prisons, treated with a lack of respect and decency. But it is less so for those on the fire crews.

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Posted in reply to the post by Hot Compost:

...I would also use the term Slave Labor to describe many, perhaps most, of the laborers that assemble the electronics Americans purchase.

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I wouldn't. I get your point, there's a lot of entrapment and exploitation, but I think that the descendants of those who were literally and openly bought and sold, and had their children sold, might find the co-option of the term a bit disrespectful.

If anything the term slavery is multi ordinal and has many uses like love, or freedom. Personally I doubt that many descendants of slaves would want to lay exclusive claim to the word slavery.

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Posted in reply to the post by podfish:

I wouldn't. I get your point, there's a lot of entrapment and exploitation, but I think that the descendants of those who were literally and openly bought and sold, and had their children sold, might find the co-option of the term a bit disrespectful.

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