A Firsthand Account of Unpaid Prison Work, Involuntary Servitude, and Survival in TDCJ
By Johnny Odle
I Am Just a Number
I am #02538393…and I am just a number…in T.D.C.J! I know I am just a number because the other morning I climbed in a 10 ft hole and raked 10 lbs of dookie and things I don’t even want to talk about…through 3 different grates…in the filter for every toilet on my prison unit!!
Then I climbed out of that hole, changed my boots (not my clothes), then worked 9 hrs more doing my regular job as a maintenance worker trying to fix things that are broken in the kitchen for a maintenance boss who does not give a fuck about me or the kitchen!!
You know how I know he does not give a fuck? Because at the end of the day…after all that work…when I was tired…I was told to sit on the floor because a single chair was left out at our tiny maintenance shop!!
I am a tool…and nothing but a tool to the TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE.
What This Is Really About
And today I want to talk about prison labor, involuntary servitude, aka modern day slavery.
Are you ready?
First, I want to make it clear that I am an inmate in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and this is strictly from an inmate’s point of view. I am not a researcher. I’m not someone sitting behind a desk who has never seen or been inside a prison.
I am sitting in a day room on the Cole Unit in Bonham, TX right now.
BUT (and to please my “editor”) I want to give you a little “unbiased” information before we go too far down this rabbit hole.
There is NO law, federal or state, that says any state has to pay their inmates. In fact, just the opposite. It clearly states in our Constitution, in the Thirteenth Amendment, that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States…EXCEPT as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
So no one is breaking the law by forcing us into labor in any prison in the United States.
Forced Labor Is Real
But make no mistake about it…we are being forced into labor!!
We do face punishment if we do not turn out to work and/or perform to their standards!!
We face severe punishment…as in getting written up…which reflects down the line when we come up for parole…and most likely facing a set-off…and our parole denied!!
Not to mention…loss of commissary privileges…recreation restrictions…and/or cell confinement!!
= FORCED LABOR!!
In other words…danger is high…and hope is low!!
I once saw a guard take off his radio…take off his prison shirt…and square up with an inmate as to fight him because he didn’t want to turn out for work!!
It’s a no win situation for the inmate!!
If he beats this guard up…he faces solitary confinement…years of set-offs…and new charges.
If he loses…same outcome.
Danger is high…and hope is low!!
$0.00 an Hour
I once heard the average pay for a convicted inmate is $0.52 an hour…$4.16 a day…$99.84 a month!!
You know what the average pay for a convicted inmate in T.D.C.J is?
$0.00!!
We do not get compensated for working in the TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE!!
I once worked on the Powledge Unit as a welder from 6 a.m. till 2 p.m…on TCI dump trucks!!
Skilled labor. Dangerous work. Cutting torches…grinders…welders…flammable gases.
There were countless inmates doing everything—hydraulics…painting…wiring lights.
I was on one of 9 welding crews building dump beds.
Strict deadlines.
Zero compensation.
What Zero Pay Does
Now before I tell you what just a little pay would do…let me tell you what zero pay does.
Our basic needs are NOT met.
We are fed the bare minimum calories every meal.
Indigent inmates get one bar of soap a month.
After jobs like field squad…chain gang…or climbing into a 10 ft hole full of shit…
I’m dirty. I’m tired. I’m hungry.
So how do we survive?
Side hustle.
Washing clothes. Tattooing. Stealing food. Cooking on makeshift grills scraped off bunks.
All against the rules.
All punishable.
Soap…toothpaste…coffee…fans…soups…chips…fish packs…
Everything we need to survive.
Everything comes with a price.
What $0.52 Would Change
Now let’s talk about what just $0.52 an hour would do.
Not just for me…but for my family.
No more asking for money every time I call home.
$99.84 a month = soap, coffee, a fan in the Texas heat.
If I saved $50 a month…
After 2 years = $1,200
After 5 years = $3,000
Enough for a down payment on a vehicle.
Instead?
I walk out with nothing.
And guess what…
Side hustle again.
My Punishment
I get it.
I committed a crime.
PENITENTIARY = penitent = remorse.
I am being punished.
But my punishment is being here.
Locked away. Removed from my family. Removed from life.
For years.
That is the punishment.
My punishment should NOT be forced labor.
My punishment is NOT to be a slave for the state of Texas.
Call It What It Is
SLAVERY = being under the control of another person
SLAVERY = work under harsh conditions for little or no pay
These are not my definitions.
These are real definitions.
And they describe exactly what is happening.
To me.
To countless others.
Men and women across the United States.
lol For just $0.52 an hour…we can stop the hunger.
lol For just $4.16 a day…we can afford the soap and toothpaste we need.
your friend,
Jail House Johnny