February 5th, 2018
Florida prisoners held in a 'Closed Management' unit join Operation Push by boycotting commissary. These prisoners are locked up 23 hours a day, are not allowed any movement around the camp or work assignments and are subject to constant communication restrictions. Prisoners who speak out about conditions in FL prisons are sent here so that the FDOC can keep them quiet and maintain the lie that their prisons are functioning well, their slaves are happy, and there is not a resistance movement building inside.
January 30th, 2018
Rashid Johnson shares details on his torture in retaliation for his piece, Florida Prisoners Are Laying it Down.
January 26th, 2018
Phone zap for Rashid is a success! He is able to meet with his lawyer and is confirmed to be in better health.
More Updates
For a full list of Operation PUSH events visit the Operation PUSH Timeline page.
Background
On January 15th, 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Florida incarcerated workers began a work stoppage around three primary demands:
- Payment for our labor, rather than the current slave arrangement
- An end to outrageous canteen prices
- Reintroduction of parole incentives to lifers and those with Buck Rogers dates
In addition to the three primary demands, we are also fighting to:
• Stop the overcrowding and acts of brutality committed by officers throughout FDOC which have resulted in the highest death rates in prison history.
• Expose the environmental conditions we face, including extreme temperatures, mold, contaminated water, and being placed next to toxic sites such as landfills, military bases and phosphate mines (including a proposed mine which would surround the Reception and Medical Center prison in Lake Butler).
• Honor the moratorium on state executions, as a court-ordered the state to do, without the legal loophole now being used to kill prisoners on death row.
• Restore voting rights as a basic human right to all, not a privilege, regardless of criminal convictions.
For more information, read the original call to action - Operation PUSH: Prison Work Stoppage Called for MLK Jr Day
Endorsers
We have over 70 total endorsers. Email fighttoxicprisons@gmail.com to add your organization to the list.
- Supporting Prisoner and Real Change (SPARC)
- Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC)
- Campaign to Fight Toxic Prison
- Dream Defenders
- Black Lives Matter Alliance, Broward
- National Lawyers Guild (NLG)
- South Florida Prison Books
- DSA (Palm Beach, Broward, Miami/Dade, Tampa, Central FL)
- South Florida Activism
- New African Black Panther Party, Prison Chapter
How to Support the Strike
- Attend or organize an upcoming event. SPARC Upcoming Events
- Endorse the campaign (email fighttoxicprisons@gmail.com)
- Follow and use the hashtag #OperationPUSH on social media to spread the word
- Write to a striking prisoner - a few are listed in this article
- Donate to our fundraiser
