For months, Scott Abbey reported to work on the sandwich line of an industrial kitchen. He and his coworkers prepared 20,000 meals each day, which were then sold by a $16.2 billion multinational food and facility services conglomerate. In order to use the restroom at work, Mr. Abbey and his coworkers were forced to wade through urine and feces that overflowed from toilets that were never cleaned. The fecal matter on their shoes traveled with them back into the kitchen, where Mr. Abbey and his coworkers often found rodents around the food they prepared. Mr. Abbey was given a single meal per day and provided no means to challenge either the conditions he suffered or the fact he earned $0 for his work.
Scott Abbey’s story may seem ripped from the pages of history, a relic of the unregulated workplaces in America’s early-industrial past. But Mr. Abbey is an American worker in the 21st century. Why wasn’t he protected by the laws that protect the rights of modern workers? The answer is simple: Mr. Abbey was incarcerated, working behind bars at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, California.
