Hire more workers, raise the wages
In a recent address to the corporate think tank Bureau of Governmental Research, Mayor Cantrell proposed using prisoners from the Parish jail to clean storm drains. All workers should be angry and opposed to using enslaved labor. The priority of the city should be to increase the size of the work force for the Department of Public Works, raise their wages and institute better safety measures. These are demands that overburdened and underpaid workers have been demanding.
Instead of proposing wage increases for city workers, Mayor Cantrell wants free labor. Why not hire prisoner workers for a regular wage and a guaranteed job. This will help them and their families get a new start in life.
Free labor, or subminimum labor of any kind, brings down the wages of all workers and puts more pressure for lower wages for city workers.
With the billions pouring into the city from the labor of the workers from the tourist economy alone there should be enough to create a real jobs program at $15 an hour with benefits for the many men, women, and youth who need these jobs.