The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The government wants to put prisoners back to work

2021-12-03T07:36:55.538Z


Prison work has dropped significantly over the past twenty years. Élisabeth Borne and Éric Dupond-Moretti wish to relaunch it to facilitate reintegration.


Accompanied by around fifty heads or business representatives, Élisabeth Borne and Éric Dupond-Moretti visited Muret prison, south of Toulouse, on Thursday.

The Ministers of Labor and Justice recalled on this occasion their wish to relaunch the work of detainees.

Read also Eric Dupond-Moretti wants to develop work in prisons

As

Le Figaro

wrote

in 2018, it has indeed fallen considerably in 20 years.

"

Today, less than a third of detainees work during their detention, whereas at the beginning of the 2000s we were able to reach more than half

", admitted Élisabeth Borne.

The decline in prison work over the past 20 years is very clear.

Institut Montaigne / Le Figaro

In a report from the Montaigne Institute published in 2018, one of the explanations that emerged from this development was the discrepancy between the expectations of the working world and the tasks offered to prisoners. These, noted the report, “are

moving further and further away from those which could be entrusted to them outside and companies are moving away from them, anticipating material constraints and fearing heavy repercussions on their image. [...] This slow quantitative decline was accompanied by a degradation of the quality of the tasks carried out in detention. These, vestiges of shaping or assembly activities having largely disappeared from the French productive fabric, are not very rewarding and cannot be considered as preparing for a professional life

”.

Read also Prison work poorly prepares for the reintegration of detainees according to a report

But Élisabeth Borne wants to believe this time that the current economic situation is more favorable to the work of prisoners.

"

Given that

many companies are facing recruitment difficulties

, it is the right time to open up these windows a little in recruitment practices

," she told the attention of executives and managers of 'Haute-Garonne companies, including Suez, Schneider Electric, Vinci, WebHelp, Microsoft or Airbus.

This reform is also a step forward for prisoners, assures for its part the Chancellery, which makes work in detention a major tool for reintegration: "

Prison work makes it possible to preserve or acquire skills and know-how which will be available for employment upon release from detention. It is a source of empowerment, self-esteem and appeasement of detention. In addition to the possibility of improving his daily life, the remuneration received allows the detainee to prepare for his release, and, if necessary, to compensate the victims.

"

The Bill for the confidence in the judicial institution “

contains a contract of the working prisoner, it is 45% of the minimum wage, the administrative formalities taken care of by the prison administration and the surfaces (of activity in prison) are free,

”said Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti. The reform of the status of the detained worker indeed aims to bring this status closer to common labor law. Prisoners will also contribute to unemployment insurance, benefit from the right to training and daily allowances in the event of sickness, maternity or occupational accident leave.

Éric Dupond-Moretti thus spoke of a “

win, win, win

partnership

. “

For the boss, it's a great humanist approach, it allows for substantial savings. It is a win for the prisoner because a prisoner who works is a prisoner who reintegrates (...) with 50% less risk of recidivism and it is a winner for all of society because we all have interest in that women or men, after being punished, return to civil society

”, further explained the Minister of Justice.

But despite these ambitions, the International Observatory of Prisons (OIP), believes that this reform “

marks progress, but very small steps.

Because by wanting too much to preserve the employers and to make work a tool of disciplinary management, it maintains the detained workers in their condition of submissive and malleable workforce.

"

Read also Academics demand better recognition of prison work

According to the prison administration, around 20,000 inmates now work in 600 industrial workshops in the metallurgy, carpentry, textile manufacturing, assembly, recycling or packaging sector, but also in the service economy with, for example, call centers. About 250 of the 600 men who are incarcerated at the Muret detention center work in several workshops ranging from carpentry to the aeronautical sector. Companies like Safran have set up workshops that are almost identical to those of their own production units.

The Ministry of Justice yesterday shared on its website a free access map of the places of activity of prison work, in order to allow companies to access all the useful information on the activities established in penitentiary centers, the capacities of production and the characteristics of the workshops.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-12-03

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.