"They're felons, and they've got your number," read a South African headline. "Convicted Murderers Offer Directory Assistance," said another. "Dial M for Mobsters: Italy sets up call centre in jail," shouted the Scotsman's headline. "The next time you call directory enquiries in Italy, you may speak to a convicted murderer," warned Australia's Perth Now. Indian news sources, gleeful for something that made their outsourcers look benign, were just as smug: "Hello, murderer speaking!" said the Hindustan Times.
Much, if not all of the international coverage of Rome's Rebibbia prison call center has been hysterical. Read below the headlines and you'll learn that only 24 (or 26, depending on the source) inmates actually work there, that prisoners cannot dial out, and that the handful of convicts, specifically chosen for the job, are grateful for the work experience.
Prison work programs are controversial no matter where they are implemented. Some critics say that convicts are there to be punished and shouldn't get to work. Others say cons need work to keep them busy. Most prisoner advocates will tell you convicts need to be prepared for their eventual release -- paying jobs give them both experience and modest wages that will help them on the outside.
As a part of my research for an article on prison call centers, I've spoken to ex-cons, prisoner rights workers, prison call center managers, and some guys who may have the hardest job of all: sales for the federal government's UNICOR prison call center outsourcing program.
Prison-based call centers are probably more common than you think -- by some counts almost every state in America runs some. But they're probably not as bad as you think. UNICOR call centers don't compete with American jobs -- they only take on contracts that were about to be outsourced overseas. Security is high -- it has to be, if only because of the perception of danger.
And, as a UNICOR salesman told me, "adherence is fantastic." That's a joke you'll hear a lot from the prison outsourcing industry, but it's true. The fact is, prison call center jobs pay more than other prison jobs. They provide work in clean, air-conditioned environments that give prisoners the chance to interact with people on the outside who don't know they're talking to a convict. Prisoners like that; being treated like a call center worker is much preferred to getting treated like a convict. These men and women covet these jobs.
All but a few reactionary types who can't seem to make the connection between prisons and rehabilitation admit that convicts need help adjusting to the working world. But it isn't prison pay scales and security concerns that drive the most controversy when it comes to prison call centers these days -- it's the competition.
"We do not believe Federal Prison Industries should continue its unfettered expansion into the commercial marketplace," Tim Maney, director of legislative affairs for the Chamber of Commerce told NPR in February of last year. "The business community is extremely concerned with this."
UNICOR wouldn't talk to NPR, and they haven't been willing to speak with us either. It's a matter of protecting their clients, businesses that have opted for cheap labor in American prisons rather than cheap labor outside our borders. Is there anything wrong with this? You tell us. We'd love to hear from our readers about this sensitive issue.
We'll be going into more depth about prison call centers online in the next few months. Look for more blogs and features to come.
