VIDEO: US prisoners are being assigned dangerous jobs. But what happens if they are hurt or killed?

@coppercourier Blas Sanchez was nearing the end of 20 years in an Arizona prison when he was leased out to work at Hickman’s Family Farms, which sells eggs that have ended up in the supply chains of huge companies like McDonald’s, Target, and Albertsons. While assigned to a machine that churns chicken droppings into compost, his right leg got pulled into a chute with a large spiraling augur. Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of prisoners are put to work every year, some of whom are seriously injured or killed after being given dangerous jobs with little or no training, The Associated Press found. They include prisoners fighting wildfires, operating heavy machinery, working on industrial-sized farms, and meat-processing plants tied to the supply chains of leading brands. These men and women are part of a labor system that – often by design – essentially denies them fundamental rights and protections guaranteed to other American workers. The findings are part of a broader two-year AP investigation that linked some of the world’s largest and best-known companies – from Cargill and Walmart to Burger King – to prisoners who can be paid pennies an hour or nothing. Prison labor began during slavery and exploded as incarceration rates soared, disproportionately affecting people of color. As laws have steadily changed to make it easier for private companies to tap into the swelling captive workforce, it has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry with little oversight. . . . . #prison #prisontiktok #prisonlife #prisonwife #prisonbreak #prisonstories #prisonwifelife #prisoner #prisontok #prisoners #prisonworker #prisonworkers #prisonworkersstrike #prisonworkerstriks #prisonworkergear #womenprisonworker #formerprisonworker #arizona #az #everythingarizona ♬ original sound – Copper Courier