Dell to Stop Using Prison Workers
"Responding to concerns from both customers and environmental advocates, Dell Computer announced yesterday that it would no longer rely on prisons to supply workers for its computer recycling program."
A story like this always causes me to do a double take: "Wait a minute; I didn't know that Dell was using prison labor in the first place!" A few years ago it was fashionable to criticize the Chinese for their reliance on prison labor, but the dirty secret was that we have our own prison-industrial complex, in the words of Jesse Jackson. Reliance on prison labor can only depress wages and working conditions in the private sector, and it at least raises questions about exploitation of the prisoners themselves.