Prison America–Inmate’s Strike Update

PrisonPath, at the request of its visitors, will post every week the latest news about Prison America. The United States has the most inmates and prisons in the world. We have 25% of the world’s inmates and only 5% of the world’s population. For almost three weeks, almost all of the media has ignored the first national inmate strike that started on September 9th.

Mother Jones reported that 24,000 prison laborers have refused to work. There are inmates on strike in twenty-nine prisons in twelve states. Some of the states are Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington.

The activists have organized this first national strike to combat prison labor conditions. They have called present conditions, “modern-day slavery.” Prisoners are put to work for little to no pay. The pay is often between 12 to 40 cents an hour.

At the same time, the inmates are confronted with excessive charges for commissary food, high phone call charges, and sometimes unsafe working conditions.

Across the United States, sympathizers have expressed their support for the inmate’s strike against prison slave labor and exploitation. It is time to fix our broken system of justice.

By: Bradley Schwartz
Founder of prisonpath.com