Disclaimer – Auto-generated content in Spanish:
Algunas partes de esta página se generan automáticamente y podrían contener errores menores. Se recomienda usar el juicio crítico al interactuar con ella.
Disclaimer – Auto-generated content in Spanish:
Algunas partes de esta página se generan automáticamente y podrían contener errores menores. Se recomienda usar el juicio crítico al interactuar con ella.
Dr. Donna Hylton (Leading with Conviction™ 2015) writes, “In 2026, New York still pays certain workers pennies an hour — and the system that allows it was designed in the shadow of slavery. It’s time for New York State to end these practices, once and for all.
“After Emancipation, newly freed Black workers were locked into no-wage and low-wage labor. In the hospitality industry, employers refused to guarantee wages, shifting responsibility to tips from white customers. The subminimum wage for tipped workers was not an oversight — it was a deliberate structure, designed to deny Black workers a guaranteed wage at all.
… the line from slavery to today’s brutal and exploitative prison labor system is direct and clear.
“Similarly, the line from slavery to today’s brutal and exploitative prison labor system is direct and clear. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery with one exception: for those convicted of crimes. Even as New York was gradually abolishing slavery, it was building a replacement. The ‘Auburn System,’ pioneered at Auburn Prison more than 200 years ago, forced incarcerated New Yorkers to work for little or no pay to produce goods sold for profit.
“Fast-forward to today where, of the 32,000 people currently incarcerated in New York, more than three in four are people of color and half are Black. Incarcerated workers make furniture, eyeglasses, and other goods sold to state and local government entities. Between 2010 and 2021, New York’s prison manufacturing enterprise sold more than $545 million worth of goods and services. The workers who produced that value earned, at most, 65 cents an hour — with the vast majority earning less than 33 cents. Wages for New York’s incarcerated workers have not increased in more than 30 years. …
“We are not asking New York to remember slavery as history. We are asking New York to stop profiting from its design. …
“Along with 13th Forward, the NAACP, One Fair Wage, and the growing statewide Living Wage For All coalition, we are calling on the New York Legislature to eliminate all subminimum wages. Not gradually. Not with carve-outs. For all workers.”
Thank you so much for supporting our mission here at JLUSA! Your donation helps to support our network of leaders working to dismantle oppressive systems and uplift people and families impacted by mass incarceration across the country.
All charitable donations made to JLUSA are fully tax deductible, as allowable by the IRS.
