Prison labor program unlikely to move forward in Winston-Salem after employee raises concerns

Winston-Salem is backpedaling on a plan to use prison labor for litter management after a city employee raised concerns. 

Litter pickup is currently the responsibility of the city’s vegetation management department. Justin Cashel works for the office. He says last summer, his manager floated the idea of bringing in prisoners on work release to help, pitching it as a cost-effective solution for short-staffing.  

During the public comment period of Monday’s meeting, Cashel told city council he was against it. 

“I’m not against having somebody with me that's been in prison or currently in prison," he said. "I'm just against it morally, paying someone such low wages.”

Cashel says he was asked to sign a form consenting to work with inmates, and he refused despite concerns that he’d face consequences.

City Manager Pat Pate told WFDD that Cashel won’t be penalized, calling the forms a preliminary step in the city's consideration of the program.

“So part of the process in working with the Department of Corrections is the individuals who would be working on this program would have to be trained," he said. "So we've gone through the process to make sure that we know who could do this and who was willing to do it as a part of the process.”

During the meeting, Pate said it’s likely the idea will be scrapped altogether. 

“And speaking with many council members, I think there is a varying opinion, but at this point, we're not planning to pursue that contract unless we get additional direction from council to do so.”

Pate says the program can’t move forward unless council members vote to approve it.