Detenuti a basso costo
11.01.2025 · In Los Angeles, 395 inmates have been deployed to fight the flames. Prisoners are paid a pittance and also “rented out” to department stores and fast-food chains. They cost less, they aren’t unionised, and the prisons — often private — turn a profit from them.
The United States is the country with the largest prison population, which suggests it might be more profitable to keep a mass of people imprisoned and used as cheap labour than free and regularly employed.
In California, around 800 incarcerated firefighters are battling the fires affecting the south of the state, joining thousands of firefighters and emergency personnel. These firefighters, who live in minimum-security conservation camps, have been essential in responding to emergencies such as wildfires and floods. More than 1,800 incarcerated firefighters currently reside in these camps, though the number has fallen due to the reduction in the prison population. According to the secretary of the Department of Corrections, their work is essential to protecting lives and property. Incarcerated firefighters receive between $5.80 and $10.24 a day as compensation.
California prison crews fight Los Angeles fires - CalMatters