Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee

The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee was founded as a labor union for prisoners.{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Dalvin|title=Nationwide strike by prisoners set to end Sunday after weeks of protests|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/08/prison-strike-state-state-look-protests-behind-bars/1225268002/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}} Among those who helped to found the IWOC was Brianna Peril.{{Cite web|last=Sykes|first=Michael|title=Inmates in 17 states are striking against "slavery"|url=https://www.axios.com/prison-strikes-2018-inmate-prison-reform-14f8ade9-0320-4f45-ac5a-39b64622f573.html|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Axios|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=McCray|first=Rebecca|title=Prison Work Is Work|url=https://popula.com/2018/08/28/prison-work-is-work/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Popula|date=28 August 2018 |language=en-US}} Peril is a veteran organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a group founded in 1905.{{Cite web|last=Tabor|first=Nick|date=2018-08-23|title=The Improbable Story of How the National Prisoner Strike Came Together|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/08/how-the-national-prisoner-strike-came-together.html|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Intelligencer|language=en-us}} She was previously imprisoned in the 1980s. The IWOC is a committee of the IWW.{{Cite web|title=Activists Urge Florida Democrats to Return Donations From Private Prison Contractor|url=https://fortune.com/2019/06/27/florida-democrats-prison-donations/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Fortune|language=en}}

On September 9, 2016, the IWOC helped organize a U.S. prison strike on the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising.{{cite news|last1=Speri|first1=Alice|title=The Largest Prison Strike in U.S. History Enters Its Second Week|url=https://theintercept.com/2016/09/16/the-largest-prison-strike-in-u-s-history-enters-its-second-week/|accessdate=16 October 2016|work=The Intercept|date=September 16, 2016}}{{cite magazine|last1=Kim|first1=E. Tammy|title=A National Strike Against "Prison Slavery"|url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-national-strike-against-prison-slavery|accessdate=16 October 2016|magazine=The New Yorker|date=3 October 2016}} The strike involved an estimated 24,000 prisoners in 24 states, the largest prison strike in U.S. history.{{cite news|last1=Hylton|first1=Antonia|title=We spoke to the inmate in solitary who inspired a national strike against 'modern-day slave conditions'|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/we-spoke-to-the-inmate-in-solitary-who-inspired-a-national-strike-against-modern-day-slave-conditions/|access-date=16 October 2016|work=VICE News|date=October 3, 2016}} The IWOC coordinated the strike alongside the Free Alabama Movement.{{Cite news|date=2016-10-03|title=Inmate strikers enter the fray for US prison reform|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37502279|access-date=2021-03-14}}

This was followed through with another prison strike on August 21, 2018 which was organized by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and supported by the Committee.{{Cite news|last=Hitt|first=Tarpley|date=2018-08-24|title=Prisons Retaliate Against Inmates Protesting 'Modern Slavery'|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/prisons-are-already-retaliating-against-inmates-protesting-modern-slavery|access-date=2021-03-14}} The strikers protested against a system they describe as "prison slavery", making 10 demands.{{Cite web|last=Bauer|first=Shane|date=2018-10-02|title=Why Do Inmates Fight Wildfires for Dollars a Day? The Origins of Prison Slavery in America.|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/10/origin-prison-slavery-shane-bauer-american-prison-excerpt.html|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}} Two notable demands, for example, were 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.{{Cite news|url=https://incarceratedworkers.org/campaigns/prison-strike-2018|title=Prison Strike 2018|date=2018-06-19|work=Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee|access-date=2018-09-11}} This strike lasted until September 9, the same day the first prison strike started, and was supported by the ACLU.{{Cite news|url=https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-statement-nationwide-prison-strike|title=ACLU Statement on Nationwide Prison Strike|work=American Civil Liberties Union|access-date=2018-09-11}} Prisoner participation occurred in at least 17 states.

Despite the strike ending on September 9, 2018, some prisoners continued to strike.{{Cite news|url=https://incarceratedworkers.org/septemer-11-strike-update|title=September 11 strike update|date=2018-09-11|work=Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee|access-date=2018-09-12}}

In 2019, the Committee successfully lobbied for the local government of Gainesville, Florida to stop using prison labor in collaboration with Florida's Department of Corrections.{{Cite web|date=2019-02-01|title=A local government stops using prison labor, saying it's morally wrong|url=https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2019/02/01/a-local-government-stops-using-prison-labor-saying-its-morally-wrong/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Florida Phoenix|language=en-US}} The same year, the IWOC was among the groups that lobbied for the Florida Democrats to return a donation from G4S, a private prison contractor. In Wisconsin, the group lobbied to end solitary confinement.{{Cite web|last=Hess|first=Corrinne|date=2019-03-27|title=Wisconsin Inmates Refuse Food To Protest Solitary Confinement|url=https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-inmates-refuse-food-protest-solitary-confinement|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Wisconsin Public Radio|language=en}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee has advocated on behalf of prisoners who had been affected in some way, such as those who had been infected or were affected by prison lockdowns.{{Cite web|last=Marohn|first=Kirsti|title=As COVID-19 spreads in Minn. prisons, loved ones worry|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/10/06/as-covid19-spreads-in-minn-prisons-loved-ones-worry|access-date=2021-03-14|website=MPR News|date=8 December 2020 }}{{Cite web|last=Woolston|first=George|title=Family members, advocates speak out as COVID-19 spreads inside FCI Fort Dix|url=https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/2020/10/29/family-members-speak-out-covid-19-spreads-inside-fci-fort-dix/6077553002/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Burlington County Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Mueller|first=Chris|title=COVID-19 has infected more than 2,900 people in Wisconsin's prisons. Should certain inmates be released to stop the spread?|url=https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2020/10/20/i-feel-completely-helpless-calls-release-certain-state-prisoners-grow-louder-virus-spreads-behind-ba/5935506002/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=The Post-Crescent|language=en-US}} This has included advocating for those who had a health condition or a minor sentence to receive an early conditional release from incarceration during the pandemic, due to risk of infection.{{Cite web|last=Pross|first=Katrina|date=2020-11-29|title='Is it a death sentence being here?': COVID sweeps through Stillwater prison|url=https://www.twincities.com/2020/11/29/is-it-a-death-sentence-being-here-coronavirus-outbreak-sweeps-through-stillwater-prison/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=St. Paul Pioneer Press|language=en-US}}

File:Industrial Workers of the World.png, IWOC's parent organization|175x175px]]On July 31, 2014, IWOC released their official Statement of Purpose, which includes five key tenets:

1. To further the revolutionary goals of incarcerated people and the IWW through mutual organizing of a worldwide union for emancipation from the prison system.
2. To build class solidarity amongst members of the working class by connecting the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers to workers struggles locally and worldwide.
3. To strategically and tactically support prisoners locally and worldwide, incorporating an analysis of white supremacy, patriarchy, prison culture, and capitalism.
4. To actively struggle to end the criminalization, exploitation, and enslavement of working-class people, which disproportionately targets people of color, immigrants, people with low income, LGBTQ people, young people, dissidents, and those with mental illness.
5. To amplify the voices of working-class people in prison, especially those engaging in collective action or who put their own lives at risk to improve the conditions of all.{{Cite web|date=2016-09-28|title=About|url=https://incarceratedworkers.org/about|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee|language=en}}

• Prison abolition movement
• Penal labor in the United States
• Free Alabama Movement

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|https://incarceratedworkers.org}}

Category:Trade unions affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World

Category:Indentured servitude

Category:Penal labour

Category:2014 establishments in the United States

Category:Trade unions established in the 2010s

Category:Prison abolition movement

{{IWW}}