Inmates are Being Paid $1 to Fight Northern California Wildfires

Being paid less than what you deserve is always annoying, but this certain situation may me debatable by some people.

Should inmates be upset that they are only being paid one dollar to help fight the wildfires in California?

Over 550 inmates were sent to help fight the blazes that are happening in the wine country that is north of San Francisco.

The inmates wear orange jumpsuits that have “inmate” stamped on the pant legs but are just like anyone else out there when fighting the fires. They do not have handcuffs on or any guards breathing down their neck.

What’s questionable however is how much these inmates are being paid to risk their lives. They are paid about a dollar an hour.

The inmates are responsible for cutting down trees and digging ditches around the fires in order to contain them.

Politician Gayle McLaughlin remarked, “No matter how you may want to dress it up, if you have people working for nothing or almost nothing, you’ve got slave labor. And it is not acceptable.”

Despite some thinking it is exploitation, many of the inmates are happy to make the wages. It’s the highest an inmate is able to make.

Derrick Lovell, 25, has six months left of his prison term at Oak Glen and said, “My mom is proud. She said ‘I always knew you’d become a fireman, even if it is the hard way.”