-----Original Message-----
From: Marta Russell <ap888 at lafn.org>
>It probably is more connected to keeping wages low and unions under
>control. If workfare workers and prison labor are subsidized by the
>government, they do the work for less than the "regular" worker (in
some
>cases threaten their jobs) and in turn this drives the wages down and
>preserves social control, does it not?
hi Marta,
true, things like workfare are in many ways more policies directed at those in 'regular' work. driving wages down being a big part of it. and social control would also include things like increases in unpaid overtime (up dramatically here), increases in work time generally without comparable betterment in pay or conditions.... it signals a defeat for organised workers, more discipline, the activation (real and imagined) of the reserve army...
but is this a form of slavery? any takers on this one?
a related question: how do prison labour, or workfare, figures get counted in employment/unemployment stats in the US? our esteemed prime minister has been telling me about the wonderfully low unemployment figs in the US, and if we could just find the natural clearing price for labour... well, you know the tale.
angela