Tampa Bay Buccaneers Employ Indentured Servants As Concessions Workers

Sounds legit for a billion dollar enterprise:

Before every Tampa Bay Buccaneers home game, dozens of men gather in the yard at New Beginnings of Tampa, one of the city's largest homeless programs.

The men — many of them recovering alcoholics and drug addicts — are about to work a concessions stand behind Raymond James Stadium's iconic pirate ship, serving beer and food to football fans. First, a supervisor for New Beginnings tries to pump them up.

"Thank God we have these events," he tells them. "They bring in the prime finances."

But not for the workers. They leave the game sweat-soaked and as penniless as they arrived. The money for their labor goes to New Beginnings. The men receive only shelter and food.

For years, New Beginnings founder and CEO Tom Atchison has sent his unpaid homeless labor crews to Tampa Bay Rays, Lightning and Bucs games, the Daytona 500 and the Florida State Fair. For their shelter, he's had homeless people work in construction, landscaping, telemarketing, moving, painting, even grant-writing.

Atchison calls it "work therapy." Homeless advocates and labor lawyers call it exploitative, and possibly illegal. It is the latest questionable way Atchison has used homeless people, and public money, a Tampa Bay Times investigation has found.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/specials/tampa-homeless-program-uses-unpaid-destitute-residents-as-steady-labor/2208350

 

I'm sure he's buddies with Rick Scott and won't even so much as see a fine.

 

Always thought the serfing wasn't very good in that part of Florida.

 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

 

They should quit if they don't like it.

 

I worked for a charity that sold concessions at Miller Park. The charity got five percent of the sales from that booth for that day, and Miller Park got free labor. We averaged six people, eight hours a shift and made around $800 for the day... so our "wage" for our charity was around $15 per hour... Long days/nights, but much better fundraising than car washes and raffle tickets. But, it was volunteer, not "required volunteer" like this guy in Tampa.

 

Yeah, the situation you described is pretty common in college & pro sports.

The Tampa situation is an entirely different deal.

 

Cliven Bundy read this story twice trying to find the problem.

 

The Orange County Register management is taking notes. After all, they could use people to deliver the paper and take the complaint calls.

 

CEO also sounds like he'd be perfect for a prison warden position up in Maine.

 

That whole concept is illegal. You can't work only for in-kind services. It's the same thing as paying golf course rangers and marshals with free golf instead of an hourly wage. It's illegal.