‘Time to Stop Prison Slave Labor!’ Brooklyn Pols Push for Prison Minimum Wage
Originally published in
Brooklyn Reader
New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Nick Perry announced on Wednesday their plans to introduce “Prison Minimum Wage” act in both houses of the New York legislature, which would raise the minimum wage to $3.00 per hour.
The two Brooklyn lawmakers were joined by the bill’s cosponsors State Senators Alessandra Biaggi and Jessica Ramos, criminal justice advocacy groups and labor unions.
“Incarcerated people are human beings,” said Senator Myrie, who represents the 20th State Senate District including Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush and Prospect Heights. “They deserve to be treated with dignity and to share in the fruits of their labor. The fact that New York’s incarcerated people contribute tens of millions of dollars in revenue to the state and haven’t gotten a pay increase in more than a quarter century is unacceptable.”
