Posted on 03/03/2008 11:42:00 AM PST by Abathar
PENDLETON, Ind. -- Indiana inmates will repair transmissions used on postal vehicles under a contract the state has signed, officials said.
Inmates at the Pendleton Correctional Facility will repair the transmissions in a contract with Alabama-based Ready-Built Transmission.
Only inmates with more than three years left on their sentences and who have shown good conduct will work on the transmissions, said prison spokesman Tim Horan.
The prison does not want to train workers only to have them leave in a few months, he said.
Inmates will work a maximum of 20 hours a week. Two four-hour shifts will take place each day, Horan said.
"What they learn here they can take with them when they re-enter society and begin looking for meaningful employment that will steer them away from a criminal lifestyle," Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue said in a statement.
Skilled workers will make $1.25 an hour, semiskilled workers will make $1 per hour and unskilled workers will make 75 cents per hour, Horan said.
Inmates will repair parts for post office vehicles across the nation, said Jon Klassen, a trainer and production manager with Ready-Built Transmission.
More than 150 inmates have started working at the transmission plant. The goal is to have 300 inmates working to dismantle broken transmissions and reform them into functional parts, Horan said.
Prison officials are planning a grand opening ceremony after initial training and preparation is over, Horan said. They have not set a date.
The transmission plant is replacing the Food Industry Plant, which closed in 2007 after experiencing several years of revenue losses, according to a news release.
Wow, even cheaper than using illegal alien labor, this company is really thinking ahead!
An unlimited supply of indentured workers with their own health insurance, food and lodging pre-paid. Wonder if the price of stamps will reflect this cost savings measure?
I didn't think so either...
Hey, it beats having them do nothing all day long. Also, it might give some of the inmates skills they can apply to real jobs when they get out.
Hope it works out.
Yeah, but at least the state is getting something for all the free meals and lodging. I personally would like to see chain gangs come back in a big way. Why hire Illegals to pick your lettuce for you when criminals will do it cheaper?
Works for me, but I'm not the guy feeding his family on rebuilding truck transmissions that just got undercut by $1.25 an hr. labor costs either....
A little mixed about using prison labor
Although its good for the Post Office to save money....just wonder if we should be employing felons over honest hard working Americans....
Since the PO is a quasi-govt thing....I guess using cons is not much a problem. Do have a problem when non-govt uses prison labor...esp when you got pedophiles calling kids trying to sell them stuff (which happened in Texas)
Oh I am all for that myself, I think chain gangs are a great idea. These are skilled jobs though that are being lost by honest workers to absurdly low labor costs, picking fruit isn’t rebuilding transmissions at cost.
I think there are strong arguments against using prison labour for profit. Wouldn’t this be an incentive for the State to imprison citizens, as a source of revenue?
"Hey Pete - The guy we just pulled in for DUI is a licensed electrician, make sure the D.A. notes that for the judge to see on his arrest report, he's worth $50 each in our headhunter bonus...
Except - only inmates that have three or more years left to serve are elligible.
Now, do you think that they are limiting the foreward stream of qualified mechanics?
“Wow, even cheaper than using illegal alien labor, this company is really thinking ahead!”
Illegal Alien prisoners. I wonder if they undercut the hourly wage of regular citizen prisoners...
Maybe now we can compete with China!
Just because the prisoners are only paid $1.25/hr doesn't mean that is what the Dept of Corrections is charging for the labor. I would assume that the actual cost of this is way north of $1.25/hr.
Sure it is, but it can be negotiated to .50 cents / hr. cheaper than anyone else too. Kind of nice when you can quote just under anyone else with that much leeway and still make out like a bandit, no pun intended.
They’re taking the jobs, of those that do the jobs, that Americans won’t do.
What about companies lobbing prison officials to get contracts? Or administering inmate aptitude tests to see where the best prisons are to setup shop? We’re talking profit here.
“What they learn here they can take with them when they re-enter society and begin looking for meaningful employment that will steer them away from a criminal lifestyle,”
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PERFECT ,, when they get out they can work for a tranny shop ,,, LIKE THEY AREN’T CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES! , NOTHINGS MORE CROOKED THAN TRANNY REPAIR....
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