Carceral Labor in the Auto Industry

Active Project

Team Adam Reich Suresh Naidu Dongwoo Park Aaron Sojourner Susan Helper
In Partnership with Jobs to Move America

Alabama's automobile supply chain employs incarcerated workers alongside traditional employees, creating a complex labor ecosystem with unclear effects on working conditions.

In partnership with Jobs to Move America, the Columbia Labor Lab is conducting the first comprehensive study examining how incarcerated labor affects wages and working conditions in Alabama's automobile supply chain—a key hub for automotive manufacturing in the non-union South.

Our research makes use of original survey data of incarcerated and non-incarcerated workers collected by Jobs to Move America. The project analyzes how prison labor affects wage levels and working conditions throughout the supply chain, and develops a new model of employment in imperfectly competitive labor markets. This research will inform advocacy efforts and contribute to academic understanding of how prison labor systems – and other forms of coercive labor systems – interact with traditional employment markets.

We are currently finalizing a comprehensive public-facing report, with an academic publication to follow.

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