Jane Godiner is a current sophomore at Bowdoin College in Maine. She is majoring in English and Psychology and concentrating in Creative Writing. She is also the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin’s newspaper. She believes in the informative and inspirational power of journalism and writes with the purpose of encouraging her readers to be instigators of change in their daily lives. She hopes to make a difference in her surrounding communities, to live as ethically as possible and to encourage others to do the same.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the United States continue to increase, and, consequently, the demand for personalized protection equipment (PPE)—objects used to prevent the spread of COVID-19—has surged. Due to the new necessity for large quantities of these products, over 20 states declared that they would use prison labor to produce personal protective equipment (PPE).
The working conditions for inmates vary from state to state; however, the average hourly wage for an incarcerated worker is 33 cents. These inmates are at an especially high risk for the contraction of COVID-19, both due to overcrowding in prisons and to a lack of constant access to soap and hot water. Below are three of the most coveted PPE products during the pandemic—and those with the heaviest reliance on prison labor.
Hand Sanitizer
Acumen Research and Consulting projects that the global market for alcohol-based hand sanitizer will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22% in the next seven years. In response, states such as New York—which was initially a hot spot for COVID-19—began enlisting prisoners to bottle hand sanitizer at a starting hourly wage of 16 cents. In March, during peak transmission, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered 100,000 gallons of “New York State Clean” hand sanitizer to be produced each week. Inmates bottling hand sanitizer during the spring worked as many as six hours each day.
For New Yorkers that cannot afford to purchase hand sanitizer, NYS Clean—given out for free—could be their only option.
Face Masks
After the Center for Disease Control’s recommendation that Americans wear face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, states such as Florida, Indiana and Massachusetts turned to prison labor in order to produce enough masks to keep up with increased demand. Indiana’s correctional facilities had inmates manufacturing 200 masks each day, while a correctional facility in Massachusetts’ Hampden County had produced over 67,000 masks as of July. A correctional facility in Florida’s Santa Rosa County saw an increase in COVID-19 cases among both inmates and prison employees during mask production.
Most of these masks—such as the ones produced in a women’s correctional facility in Dallas, Texas—are made out of materials that are sufficient, but not excellent for preventing the spread of COVID-19, such as cotton.
Medical Gowns
Due to the rapid increase in hospitalizations during the pandemic, the United States has also observed a necessity for—and scarcity of—medical-grade hospital gowns. During the initial spring uptick of cases in the spring, Washington State Department of Corrections set daily production goals for 160 inmates to manufacture 5,000-6,000 gowns. Prison wages in Washington state are anywhere from 70 cents to $2.70 per hour.
Janelle Guthrie, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Corrections, believes that this labor is “a way to give back to the community.”
While there are ethical alternatives to each of these types of PPE, they are not always affordable, especially compared to brands such as Purell and Germ-X, or the free, government-issued bottles found in states such as New York. As the need for PPE remains unwavering, working-class Americans have two options: to break their bank, or to inadvertently fuel this exploitive industry. Though Guthrie might claim otherwise, government reliance on prison labor to keep the pandemic at bay is hardly an act of community service.
Meet the artist: Anais is a French woman living in London. She works as a palliative care nurse and loves creating illustrations. She has been working for more than 10 years with people who have disabilities and terminal diseases. Anais enjoys making art that brings attention to different cause.
