John —

The searing heat was "close enough to singe your beard," Jason Dixon told NPR. He is one of the many people who fought California's raging wildfires. Like other firefighters, Dixon rushed into raging flames and hacked at the underbrush to keep Californians safe. But unlike other firefighters, Dixon was only paid $1 an hour.

There are around 2,500 people currently incarcerated in California prisons who serve on fire crews across the state. They get the same training and do the same work as other seasonal firefighters, but they only get paid between $2-$5 per day while fighting fires. They are among the more than 40,000 incarcerated people employed as full-time workers in the state's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Some of these men and women make as little as $0.08 per hour (that's not a typo — zero-dot-zero-eight cents an hour!). 

This Labor Day, will you join us in demanding DIGNITY for incarcerated workers?

Sign the petition: Ensure dignity and a livable wage for incarcerated workers.

This Labor Day, we are honoring the contributions of workers across America; we're celebrating the people who toil to leave greater opportunity and a better future for the generations to come. It is also a day to recognize the Americans among us who are unpaid, underpaid, and exploited. We need to recommit ourselves to supporting all working people, starting with demanding justice for incarcerated workers.

By failing to pay incarcerated workers a living wage, California not only sets them up for failure after they re-enter, but punishes their families while they are in prison. That's because many people who are incarcerated use what little they do make to help support their families on the outside. When they are released from custody, these same workers will struggle to find employment in an environment that locks them out of opportunity because of their criminal history. In fact, California law currently bans people with criminal records from holding the EMT license needed to become a firefighter.

Most of the big problems facing America hurt Black, Brown, and low-income communities first and worst. Just look at the people incarcerated serving as firefighters. The climate crisis is making weather more severe and fires worse. People who are already trapped in a broken criminal justice system are on the front lines fighting it while trying to stay safe from COVID-19. They are putting their lives at risk and receiving too little respect and far too little pay for doing it. That needs to change.

Sign the petition: Ensure dignity and a livable wage for incarcerated workers.

Thank you for standing with us!
—the Dream Corps team