REMEMBERING ATTICA
Prison labor struggles then & now
From a talk by Elijah Crane at the Sept. 15 Workers World
Party meeting in New York.
"Many prisoners believe their labor power is being exploited
in order for the state to increase its economic power and to
continue to expand its correctional industries (which are
million-dollar complexes), yet do not develop working skills
acceptable for employment in the outside society, and which do
not pay the prisoner more than an average of 40 cents a
day.
"Most prisoners never make more than fifty cents a day.
Prisoners who refuse to work for the outrageous scale, or who
strike, are punished and segregated without access to the
privileges shared by those who work; this is class legislation,
class division, and creates hostilities within the prison."
These words could have been written just this morning by
prisoners anywhere in the United States, like those building
houses in South Dakota for as little as 25 cents an hour. But
this statement was written 29 years ago, as part of the
manifesto of demands made by 1,500 courageous brothers in
Attica Prison, who held Cell Block D for four long days.
Many people remember the way the Attica Rebellion ended.
While the prisoners were negotiating their demands in good
faith, the National Guard and State Police were preparing a
racist, bloody massacre under the orders of the governor of New
York, Nelson Rockefeller Jr.
Instead of any material gain or victory for their valiant
efforts, the prisoners were viciously assaulted with a barrage
of bullets and brutally beaten and tortured. This resulted in
the serious injury of hundreds of men with 43 killed, including
10 of the guards who were held as hostages.
While there are many lessons to be learned from the Attica
Rebellion, there is also a lot to be considered about the
conditions under which the prisoners had been living until that
point, specifically regarding forced labor and the struggle for
a union.
Black, Latino and white prison workers at Attica had a clear
understanding that they were exploited and oppressed. They knew
that the overwhelming majority of them--African Americans and
Puerto Ricans who made up 85 percent of Attica's prison
population--were victims of racism. They also understood that
the real criminals were the ruling class that stole their labor
and profited from it.
Prisoners at Attica would wake at 6 a.m. and be in the metal
shop by 8 a.m. They had a short lunch period and yard time,
then returned to work for the remainder of the day. Some were
paid 25 cents an hour, some only 40 cents a day.
Several demands of the Attica Rebel lion pertained
specifically to the unjust labor practices inside the prison,
such as the demand to be paid the minimum wage, the demand for
a safe work place, the demand for vocational training and, of
course, the demand for union representation.
Slave labor
Today, just as in 1971, prisoners throughout the United
States are forced into slave labor. Then and now, there is no
choice for prisoners.
As long as they can utilize prison labor, corporations like
Colgate-Palmolive have no need to pay disability insurance, no
need to bother with any benefits packages, no concern for
anyone calling in sick. They don't have to concern themselves
with any issues of "workers' rights" because prisoners have no
rights.
Today, as in 1971, prisoners are still fighting for the same
demands. Missouri Prison Labor Union National Communications
Officer Michael Lee said it perfectly when he explained that
prisoners are asking for "simply a fair day's pay for a fair
day's work and a safe, non-abusive work environment."
The conclusion to the manifesto of demands by the Attica
brothers states:
"We are firm in our resolve and we demand, as human
beings, the dignity and justice that is due to us by our right
of birth. We do not know how the present system of brutality
and dehumanization and injustice has been allowed to be
perpetrated in this day of enlightenment, but we are the living
proof of its existence and we cannot allow it to
continue."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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