U.S. Inmates Going on Strike to 'End Prison Slavery'

U.S. Inmates Going on
Strike to 'End Prison Slavery' American prisoners are planning to go on strike
until Sep. 9, which is the anniversary of the
1971 Attica Prison uprising in New York. The strike targets an
"end to prison slavery,"
as well as a number of
other prison reforms. Inmates across at least 17 states plan to
participate for 19 days. The incarcerated will
refuse to work and some with also refuse to eat. The goal is to draw attention to poor
conditions and "exploitative labor
practices" within the prison system. Prison rights advocacy group Jailhouse
Lawyers Speak said that the protest is being
organized in response to the deadly riots at the
Lee Correctional Institute in South Carolina in April. Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, via 'Newsweek' Recently, it also came to light that
inmates from the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation were risking their lives while fighting the California wildfires for $3 a day, as opposed to the $75,000 plus benefits a firefighter averages per year. This protest could end up
being the largest industrial
action taken by inmates in
the history of the U.S.