Advocates rallied this week in support of legislation to ensure safe working conditions and fair pay for incarcerated New Yorkers, as reported by the Amsterdam News.

A slate of proposed bills seeks to address these issues by ending the practice of forced labor in prisons and raising the minimum wage to $3 an hour. Currently, those in the State prison system can make as little as 16 cents an hour.

Exploiting a workforce that is disproportionally Black and Hispanic allows for an enormous profit. Corcraft, a division of the Department of Corrections, generates around $42 million dollars every year through prison labor, according to Ariel Smallwood, a staff attorney with The Legal Aid Society’s Racial Justice Unit. All of that money goes directly into the State’s general fund.

While labor in prisons is officially voluntary according to Corcraft policy, Smallwood says, in reality, people are forced to work and face consequences such as solitary confinement if they refuse.

Raising the minimum wage is a critical component of supporting the families of incarcerated New Yorkers. The ability to continue to provide financial support helps to strengthen communities individuals have been forced to leave behind.

“When you’re taking someone out of their community that affects the community as a whole in what the community is able to accomplish,” said Smallwood. “Someone who’s incarcerated, they are also our community members and neighbors, and the dignity of being able to work without being forced and them being used as slave labor is an important issue for us all.”