The recent work by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) has caught the attention of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), bringing their support to the effort to unionize incarcerated workers. At their recent convention in late May the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists voted to support the IWW in the struggle, growing the prisoner unionization movement that has, until now, been overlooked by trade unions. The CBTU brings with it support for the implementation of collective bargaining and a minimum wage for prisoners, which can be viewed as a step toward prison abolition in regards to near-slave labor which prisoners currently perform.

Thanks to all who participated in Friday’s phonezap action to bring heat relief to the brothers in Corcoran!

We got reports all day from people who were calling and emailing Corcoran officials and there’s no doubt the prison bosses felt the pressure. We’ve got word back already via a family member of someone inside:

Since March 2017, prisoners in Tecumseh Correctional Institution have been forcibly and illegally moved to a housing unit more restrictive than solitary confinement. The creation of Unit 2B was spontaneous and reactionary after a riot at the facility early in the month. It is strategically called a “close management” unit, thereby evading the regulatory oversight of being classified as solitary confinement. The conditions of 2B include 1 hour out of cell each day, and 40 minutes in the yard each week. Prisoners are double-celled, having to spend 23 hours each day in close quarters with another prisoner.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has disappeared political prisoner Rashid Johnson, whom they were retaliating against for organizing fellow prisoners for improvements.

To ensure Rashid's safety, we are asking you to phone in to the TDCJ and ask for his whereabouts using this script.