Page 26 - Workers World News Today

Solitary confinement abuse sparks hunger strike in Louisiana’s Angola Prison By Gloria Rubac posted on March 3, 2021 Angola State Prison was the 18,000-acre Angola Plantation before the Civil War, named after the African country from which many of the enslaved people in Louisiana were kidnapped. The plantation was worked then by enslaved Africans and now by imprisoned workers of African descent. Incarcerated workers in Louisiana’s notorious Angola Prison began a hunger strike early Feb. 1...

The Bessemer front in the international class struggle By Christian Noakes posted on March 2, 2021 Bessemer, Ala., is now the site of a historic labor struggle between the majority-Black Amazon warehouse workers there and the $1.7 trillion international capitalist monopoly corporation. About 80% of the warehouse workers are African American, and almost half are women.  Rally for Amazon workers, Bessemer, Ala., Feb. 6. In March 2020, Amazon opened up the BHM1 fulfillment center in this predom...

Mental health effects of COVID lockdown in prison: Interview from inside SCI Albion By Joe Piette posted on February 26, 2021 This telephone interview with Demitrius Grant, imprisoned at SCI Albion near Erie, Pa., was conducted by Joe Piette for Workers World newspaper on Feb. 16.  Demetrius Grant: We’re going to be covering the issue of COVID-19 today, as to how it impacts prisoners’ mental health. About a week ago, a sergeant told me a prisoner killed himself, and another one tried to ...

Portland, Ore. The majority Black workforce in Bessemer is challenging the world’s richest human, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, in their fight to be recognized by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).  Bezos is so desperate to bust the union drive, he is illegally offering workers $2,000 to $3,000 “resignation bonuses.”  Speaking in East New York, part of Brooklyn, N.Y., outside an Amazon fulfillment center, Omowale Clay from the D12 Movement said: “A yes vote for the uni...

The global pandemic has disproportionately impacted incarcerated people in the U.S. In California, during the early days of the pandemic, the transfer of prisoners into San Quentin sparked a massive outbreak of COVID that spread to over two-thirds of the prison population there, causing the death of 27 prisoners, including…

India: Rail roko protest and growing state-sanctioned terror By Tania Siddiqi posted on February 22, 2021 Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the farmer unions’ umbrella body, launched a rail roko protest to halt train transit in many parts of India for four hours on Feb. 18. This action is the farmers’ latest attempt to push India’s national government to repeal three “farm bills” intended to appease corporate cravings. (tinyurl.com/7mrkk9da)  Women in India block train tracks in solidarity wi...

The following letter from an incarcerated worker in the Pennsylvania prison system was sent by email on Feb. 17 to Joe Piette, a member of the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. From SCI Pine Grove: Nina Simone famously said: “Alabama got me so upset; Tennessee made me lose…

A transgender formerly incarcerated activist speaks out By Judy Greenspan posted on February 17, 2021 Lisa Strawn is a transgender woman who spent more than 35 years in California prisons due to that state’s draconian “Three Strikes” law. At the age of 19, she was locked up for petty offenses like prostitution, and on her third “strike,” Lisa was sentenced to 50-to-life for burglary. She has been incarcerated in California State Prison, Corcoran; the California Medical Facility at V...

Solidarity accelerates with Amazon workers’ union drive in Alabama By Scott Williams posted on February 16, 2021 Solidarity with the struggle of 5,800+ Amazon workers in Bessemer, Ala., to unionize continues to grow, following the heroic lead of this majority-Black workforce fighting for justice on the job. Walking the Powder Plant Road approach to the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala.,where a union drive is underway by the majority-Black workforce. On Feb. 12, the recently initiated Supp...

Incarcerated workers say: ‘Solidarity with Amazon workers!’ The following letters from incarcerated workers in the Pennsylvania prison system were sent by email on Feb. 13 and 15 to Joe Piette, a member of the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. From SCI Frackville As I’ve advised you before, anything that I can do for the people, I will do. At 54 years of age, I’d like to say I did something meaningful with my life and stood for something for the people. I’m appal...