IN MY OWN WORDS - FURNITURE CLERK, OSP

Being able to get on the phone with my 13 year old son to tell him about the things that I do here at work is a source of pride for me

"The workers here have heard the term slave labor has been applied to us. That is not how I see it. I think that it would be unfair to assess the situation of the workers here without gathering the data concerning the opinions of the workers themselves. There will always be unsatisfied people in any workforce. It is true that we don't make as much as we would like to. Does anybody? I make enough money to do many things. I am able to buy all of my day to day necessities, put money on the phone to call home, buy food items from the commissary, and even send a little home from time to time. I do feel as though there could be and should be better pay and incentives. Over the years our pay has gone down while the cost of living has gone up. We need incremental pay increases to match cost of living. With that being said, I don't feel like a slave."

We have received many letters and continue to see more come in. The responses have been fairly well-rounded with a range of positive, negative, and neutral tones. We want to share with you a letter we received from the OCE Furniture Factory clerk. He resides at Oregon State Penitentiary and works in OCE's Furniture Factory. He believes we effect change when everyone has a voice and we all work together. He has chosen to leave his name off of his contribution and we respect that choice. What he has to say in the following letter is real and in his own words.

Read more stories like this and learn about OCE training programs and projects by visiting our BLOGS PAGE.