'Exploitative' labor practices in Washington state prisons highlighted in new report

Azias Ross works Saturday through Wednesday, from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. — about 32 hours a week. If he made minimum wage in Washington state, Ross would earn $520.91 a week. Instead, for those 32 hours of work, he makes about $32.

Ross is incarcerated at Stafford Creek Corrections Center and works as a custodian in the prison's medical facility, where the wage floor is $1 an hour.

That's a common wage for incarcerated people in Washington, according to a new report from Seattle-based Columbia Legal Services, titled "Overcharged: Coerced Labor, Low Pay, and High Costs in Washington’s Prisons."

The report’s authors interviewed dozens of incarcerated people, highlighting what they call exploitative labor practices in state prisons.

Interviewees not only earned far below minimum wage, but also said they felt coerced to work and said working was necessary to supplement their Department of Corrections-provided meals and hygiene products by buying protein bars, shakes, and toothpaste from the commissary.

Ross said he spends nearly all of his money at the story commissary, where a tube of toothpaste can cost nearly $7 — essentially a whole day's worth of work.

Ross said he'd would rather spend the money that has to go to protein bars and toothpaste on something that will help him with re-entry, like paying for school or saving money to create a cushion when he leaves prison.

"We could actually save money on the side, or send money home, or pursue things other than just taking the money that they give us and funneling it back into the system through the commissary," he told Soundside.

The Department of Corrections said in a statement that incarcerated individuals can earn up to $2.85 an hour and are not required to purchase additional food or other items at the commissary. The department also maintains that the rise in commissary prices is due to inflation, adding that there is little to no markup on commissary items.

Hannah Woerner, an attorney at Columbia Legal Services and the new report's author, said low wages and the relatively high cost of goods highlight the exploitative system prisoners are in.

"We want people to understand the constellation of injustices that exist within the prison economic system that are really penny-pinching people from all sides," Woerner said. "These policies aren't just inhumane. They run contrary to the idea that prison is designed to rehabilitate people."

Listen to Soundside’s full conversation with Hannah Woerner by clicking the play icon at the top of this story.