Prison labor program will need new customers, official says

Congress' decision to strip Federal Prison Industries of its contracting preference with the Defense Department will result in lost business for the federal prison labor program, a top program official said Wednesday. Steve Schwalb, chief operating officer of FPI, said the group would lose ground in the Defense market without its mandatory source status, which required the Pentagon to buy certain products from the agency. Schwalb added that FPI is willing to give up its mandatory source preference across government, but only if it were allowed to sell its products to non-federal customers. "Just giving up mandatory source is not going to be a viable solution for us," said Schwalb. "We are facing a 40 percent increase in the federal inmate population …. We cannot manage prison programs without some work programs for inmates." FPI, which operates under the trade name Unicor, employs more than 21,000 federal inmates and accounted for more than $546 million in sales in 2000, making it the 40th largest federal contractor. About 60 percent of its contracts are with the Pentagon. Section 811 of the Defense authorization bill eliminated FPI's preferential status with Defense. This means Pentagon contracting officers can buy furniture, textiles and other products from private firms besides FPI, but not before the Pentagon issues guidance on how to implement the new law. The guidance might be finished by early spring, according to Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood. FPI will press for new authorities that would allow it to sell to non-profit companies and to make products that are currently manufactured overseas, according to Schwalb. The agency would also like to see a state program that allows private firms to use prison labor extended to the federal level. Legislation introduced by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. (H.R. 1535) contains these authorities, as well as a repeal of FPI's mandatory source requirement. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., has proposed a companion bill in the Senate (S. 1228). Big furniture companies, many of which are based in Michigan, have long sought to rollback FPI's mandatory source status, according to Schwalb and Philip Glover, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals. Glover, a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institute in Lareto, Penn., said less business for FPI will result in fewer prison labor programs, which in turn could endanger prison workers. "I can tell you from working in the facility, when you have 300 inmates going to work everyday, it makes the job a lot easier," said Glover. "Frankly, when the inmates go down and work, they're much happier. They're not out causing trouble." Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., put the onus to control inmates on FPI at a Wednesday press conference, saying the agency must keep prisoners busy through labor programs that do not compete against private business. But Schwalb said FPI needs new production authorities to stay afloat. "Either we're going to provide a comprehensive fix to this thing, where … all legitimate interests can be accommodated, or we will stand by and watch this program be nickeled and dimed away by greedy corporate interests," he said.