Pols urge pay hike for inmates

The city Correction Department should pay detainees more than the 17 cents to a dollar an hour for labor behind bars, the City Council’s Progressive Caucus said.

On Monday the 23 members of the caucus sent a letter to Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann urging her to boost inmates’ “low pay.”

“It is time we start paying working incarcerated individuals wages commensurate with their work,” it said, adding that the pay scale has not been adjusted since 2007.

Inmates are paid for a range of jobs, including monitoring people on suicide watch, food prep and cleaning. Some dig graves for the city.

“When someone who’s been detained at Rikers Island — many times not even being convicted — is getting paid as little as 17 cents an hour, there’s clearly something wrong,” said Councilman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan), chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee.