California Is Using Slave Labor, Including Minors, to Fight Historic Wildfires

  • da: Care2 Team
  • destinatario: California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation
California firefighters are working to fight the largest wildfire the state has ever seen. But they're not alone. At least 200 inmates are fighting alongside them and getting paid $1 per hour to do it.

In August, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation had more than 2,000 inmates, including 58 youth offenders, have been dispatched to fight these historical fires as well.

California Corrections proudly tweeted this fact, stating that, "[i]nmate firefighters serve a vital role, clearing thick brush down to bare soil to stop the fire's spread" — and yet these inmates, including juveniles, will risk their lives for just $3 per day, amounting to nothing more than slave labor.

Sign now to demand that California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation end this horrific practice now.

Inmates are being forced to work in the same dangerous conditions as firefighters. They're battling the hot California sun, breathing in smoke and braving exposure to flames. Yet, while professional firefighters make nearly $22 dollars per hour, inmates are making less per day than a fast food worker makes in half an hour. On top of that, inmates who have been charged with a felony won't even be able to get a job as a firefighter when they are released.

This is not the way to teach prisoners the value of hard, honest work. It is exploitation, plain and simple — and some of those putting their lives on the line are children.

Please sign the petition to urge the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation to pay prisoners a decent wage to fight fires or discontinue the program!

Photo Credit: CDCR
Aggiorna #15 anni fa
Two inmate firefighters working for a dollar a day have sustained severe burns.
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