Mike Bloomberg ends exploiting prison labor to make 2020 presidential campaign phone calls

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

Charles M. Blow ✔ @CharlesMBlow

WHAT?! —-> Mike Bloomberg exploited prison labor to make 2020 presidential campaign phone calls

https://interc.pt/35Uz8Z6 by @jbwashing
Mike Bloomberg Exploited Prison Labor to Make 2020 Presidential Campaign Phone Calls
The Bloomberg campaign said it ended the arrangement after learning of the prison call centers from an The Intercept inquiry.
theintercept.com

12:05 PM - Dec 24, 2019

I had a brain fart and posted it in GD by mistake.

[David__77]

1. Yikes. Not good vetting of labor conditions!

I suspect that’s common.

[Sloumeau]

2. Dennis Donovan, thank you so much for posting this!

Bloomberg, he's just not that great.

[Hortensis]

3. "Almost 900K" prison laborers in various states that do this.

The average state wage is $0.20/hour, and it can be coercive with little choice. This was from TV just now.

From Forbes regarding Bloomberg:

* The Intercept reported Tuesday that inmates at a minimum-security women’s prison in Oklahoma were making calls on behalf of Bloomberg, citing a source familiar with the matter.
* The campaign hired a third party vendor which in turn contracted New Jersey call center ProCom to handle campaign calls, according to the Intercept. ProCom operates two call centers inside state prisons, one of which was used to make Bloomberg calls.
* It is unclear how much the incarcerated women were paid, according to the Intercept, but they could be making as little as $20 per month.
* After the Intercept flagged the matter, Bloomberg spokesperson Julie Wood told the outlet, “We didn’t know about this and we never would have allowed it if we had. We don’t believe in this practice and we’ve now ended our relationship with the subcontractor in question.”
* Neither the Bloomberg campaign nor ProCom immediately responded to a request for comment from Forbes.

It seems believable that Bloomberg's campaign didn't know. Or someone was incredibly clueless. Big no-no.

[Amishman]

4. Zero character, billionaires have no moral compass

I do not want him as the nominee

I do not want him in my party

Go away Mike Bloomberg

[appalachiablue]

5. 'billionaire Dem. candidate exploits prison labor,'can't believe this