August 3, 1999
Associated Press (AP) Newswires
Associated Press Newswires
Convicts are a dependable workforce, says manager
GREAT FALLS, Mont.
(AP) - State inmates at the regional jail here are working as
telemarketers, and officials say precautions have been taken to avoid
the abuses that have marred such operations in other states.
Since May the
inmates have pitched a voicemail system for
telecommunications
giant MCI under contract with Inmark International LLC, a Las Vegas
company that markets by phone in several states under different
arrangements, from prisons to big offices to homes.
The reason for
hiring inmates, says Steve Hatfield, a Telemark manager, is simple:
"I need people who are there every day."
He said Telemark
had to staff a 250-desk facility in Nevada with only 75 workers,
despite hiring by the hundreds.
If inmates quit
before their six-month contract ends, they could be "written
up" for breaking jail rules.
Hatfield says the
work seems to have a positive effect on the inmates.
"We train
them to become customer service reps in the future, getting them to
talk in a professional manner," he said. Inmates also may earn a
certificate to use in future job-seeking.
Glen Davis of
Montana Correctional Enterprises at Montana State Prison in Deer
Lodge agrees that the inmates benefit. "We teach them a work
ethic. We teach them a job skill," Davis said. "Most of
these guys don't have any discipline in their lives. That's why
they're here."
At least 17 states
now have programs involving prisoners working with the public over
the telephone.
Some programs have
drawn criticism for allowing prisoners access to people's credit card
numbers, bank records, home addresses and other information that
could be exploited. Montana officials say they have avoided those pitfalls.
Chief Capt. Dan
O'Fallon, jail administrator, said he made certain prisoners would
never call anyone in Montana's 406 area code so they are unlikely to
talk to with friends, witnesses or victims.
The process begins
when a computer in another state dials the number and makes theales
pitch. Most people hang up, but those interested have their calls
transferred to the jail. If the inmate persuades the prospect to buy,
the call is transferred to a "verifier" in Utah, who
collects the information and makes sure any agreement is clear. No
credit cards are involved, and calls are recorded and monitored by
people somewhere else.
The Cascade County
jail has room for 12 inmates to work but is slated for an expansion
that will allow about 20. With multiple shifts, about 50 prisoners,
or a third of the inmate population, could work there.
The telemarketing
jobs pay minimum wage. Deductions are made for taxes, any
court-ordered restitution, and a percentage for a crime victims fund.
A portion goes to the prison to offset incarceration costs. In the
end, telemarketing inmates make less than $1.30 an hour. In contrast,
most prison jobs such as custodial and kitchen work bring in about
$1.50 a day.
Critics question
the morality of such inmate-labor programs as well as their economics.
"When we
begin to contract out prison labor with the private sector, we're
approaching the same kind of moral codes of some our trading
partners," said Don Judge, executive secretary of the Montana
AFL-CIO, an association of labor unions. He was referring to the
People's Republic of China, which has long been accused of using
forced labor in its prisons.
"Why is the
state involved in providing minimum-wage jobs to the private
sector?" Judge asked. "It does nothing to improve the wages
and benefits of the people of Montana."
He also doubts the
usefulness of the skill the inmates learn and scoffs at claims that
telemarketers cannot find good workers in today's tight labor market.
"It's only
tight because they can't find people to work at such a low wage,"
he said.
Our thanks to Rob Biggerstaff for this story......