It has been an amazing day for raising awareness about prison conditions and prisoner led actions.

Please check out all these developments, share widely, and get involved!!

• Part 1 of Kinetik on Democracy Now! talking about prisoner resistance
• Part 2 of Kinetik on Democracy Now! 
• NLG endorsement of the Sept 9th Call for National Prisoner Strikes 
• It's Going Down in depth interview with IWOC 
• SPR Follow Up Article on the May Day Strikes in Alabama 
• Texas IWOC pamphlet about the past few years of prisoner struggle, the recent Texas prisoner work stoppage, and an explanation of IWOCs contributions 

Please assist us with this amazing work by getting involved with your local IWW or IWOC group and help us raise money for postage, member supplies, and a paid organizer!!

 

Dear Friends and Fellow Organizers,

I'm writing to you to ask for your support for an organization close to my heart and doing work that is greatly needed--the IWW's Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. Over the last 18 months we have grown to nearly 700 members inside prison and are greatly in need of resources to support them.

Please donate or pledge to donate $300 by May 1st, 2016, or give what you can today at incarceratedworkers.org/donate.

All donations up to $100 will be matched, $1/$1 up to $10,000. Checks can also be sent to: IWW (c/o IWOC): PO Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618, USA.

Why Donate?

While we know many of us struggle each day, an often forgotten group is prisoners of the State. In the US, these workers are legally enslaved under the 13th Amendment, which prohibits slavery “except as punishment for a crime”. More than 3,000,000 souls are abused through destructive incarceration, with millions more on probation, parole, and legal discrimination after release. Exploited for pennies or dollars a day, there are few sections of the working class with more need for support and ways to change the system that attacks them.

Increasingly people in prison are putting their very lives on the line to end state torture and exploitation. From labor strikes in Georgia and Alabama, to hunger strikes in California, to mass actions across the country, prisoners and IWW members are demanding change. We started the IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee in response to prisoners reaching out for support. Now, 21 months later, there are nearly 700 IWW members in prison. See newsletters online at incarceratedworkers.org.

As a revolutionary union our role is clear: work in solidarity with those incarcerated to organize, improve conditions, and attack this oppressive system as a whole. We have members who participated in prison shut downs, strikes, and collective actions. Together we have combated torture, retaliation, and false medical diagnoses. With your support and the brave leadership of those inside we can do so much more.

Our goal is to raise enough to fund two full time organizers who have been inside to work with those currently incarcerated and their families on the inside to spark a movement that can't be stopped.

In the spirit of New Years and new possibilities we ask you or your community to:

• Pledge or donate $300 to be paid by May 1, 2016. We need 100 such donations to meet our budget.
• Donate what you can. Every $1 you donate up to $100 will be matched by a friendly donor up to $10,000. Help us raise that 10,000!
• Start a prison organizing letter writing group in your city or region.
• Join our Media, Newsletter, Legal, Outreach, or Research Committees.
• Or volunteer to make phone calls, transcribe letters, or do graphic design. Contact iwoc@riseup.net and we will send you an intro packet and connect you to a regional organizing call.