Prison labor is the use and exploitation of inmates to offer cheap services parallel to their incarceration. Some companies take advantage of prison workers without considering the illegality of forced servitude. Mass imprisonment has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, generating enormous profits for private enterprises, especially the food industry, telecommunications sector and other businesses that use the workforce to reduce production costs or fasten the manufacturing process.
One of the firms that profit from prisoners is Signature Packaging Solutions (SPS), a Starbucks subcontractor. They pay the workers about $7 per hour, a significant raise over the state prison minimum wage that varies from several cents to $1. A considerable proportion of the laborers are recruited for major jobs over the holidays. The inmates traditionally package Starbucks’ roasted coffee during high peak periods. Prisoners are required to handle the beans with great tenderness and carefully pack them to minimize loss of the aroma. They are subjected to a long day of selecting and loading the coffee into packets later sold at Starbucks. Generally, the products cost more because they are highly demanded. Therefore, there is a need to produce in large quantities to serve all clients and, in the process, make more profits.
SPS would have to pay an average of $16 per hour for someone not incarcerated to do the same work. There are various reasons why individuals not imprisoned are paid a higher amount. First, the rate is the average packager’s salary or minimum wage. Essentially, the base salary in the US is around $7.25 an hour in addition to tipped labor earnings. The second reason is that the product, particularly Starbucks’ roasted coffee beans, costs about $23. Therefore, the firm would be able to profit from selling these because one worker can make several packets in an hour. Finally, most Starbucks products sell faster since few items are on the menu. As a result, they dispose more in a short time and make considerable revenues.