Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee

IWOC
Full name Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
Founded July 31, 2014 (2014-07-31)[1]
Journal Incarcerated Worker
Country International
Website incarceratedworkers.org

The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) is a project of the Industrial Workers of the World. Its purpose is to unionize incarcerated individuals, and to end unfree prison labour, which the IWOC calls, "prison slavery".

On September 9, 2016,[2] the IWOC helped organize a U.S. prison strike on the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising.[3] The strike involved an estimated 24,000 prisoners in 24 states, the largest prison strike in U.S. history.[4]

This was followed through with another prison strike on August 21, 2018. The strikers protested against so-called "Prison slavery", of which they made 10 demands. Two notable demands, for example, is that the Prison Litigation Reform Act be rescinded, and that inmates serving their sentences get their voting rights back, alongside pre-trial detainees, and ex-convicts.[5] This strike lasted until September 9, the same day the first prison strike started, and was supported by the ACLU.[6]

Despite the strike ending on September 9, some prisoners continue to go on strike.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About IWOC", retrieved July 5, 2017
  2. ↑ Speri, Alice (September 16, 2016). "The Largest Prison Strike in U.S. History Enters Its Second Week". The Intercept. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Kim, E. Tammy (3 October 2016). "A National Strike Against "Prison Slavery"". The New Yorker. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Hylton, Antonia (October 3, 2016). "We spoke to the inmate in solitary who inspired a national strike against 'modern-day slave conditions' | VICE News". VICE News. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Prison Strike 2018". Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
  6. ↑ "ACLU Statement on Nationwide Prison Strike". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
  7. ↑ "September 11 strike update". Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2018-09-12.


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