Californian Prisoner Hunger Strike Resumes

Solidarity Demonstration in Support of the July Hunger Strikers (from World Can't Wait)

California prisoners resumed their hunger strike on Monday at the Pelican Bay and Calipatria prisons (from Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity) to halt the torturous conditions in the Security Housing Units (SHUs).

Prisoners went on hunger strikes in July for almost four weeks, until the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) agreed to some of the prisoners’ five core demands. It was one of the largest prison strikes in California history, affecting at least 13 State prisons and over 6,600 prisoners.

Since then, the CDCR’s has done nothing to meet the strikers’ demands and has continued to condemn prisoners to SHU torture. The purpose of the SHUs is to isolate anyone accused of gang associations (including many who are not gang members) or of being a political revolutionary, and break them physically and emotionally and encourage them to inform on other prisoners and gang members, placing their lives and the lives of their friends and family members in peril.

While in the SHU, prisoners are denied physical human contact with family members and are often locked down in their cells for nearly 24 hours per day or in solitary confinement, sometimes for years at a time. Many prisoners are being denied adequate and prompt health care or any health care at all. Prisoners are also complaining of being served watered down food on filthy trays and plates and not being provided sufficient nutrients or calories.

Many are saying that the conditions in the prisons and the retaliatory treatment by guards have been worsening. According to lawyers for the prisoners, inmates have been retaliated against for participating in July’s strike, receiving serious disciplinary write-ups for minor infractions like talking in the library or not walking fast enough. Such write-ups can result in parole being denied, loss of prison jobs, and other consequences. Prisoners have also been subjected to violent cell searches at 4:00 am, blocked mail and false assault charges.

In the July strike, prisoners of all ethnicities and gang affiliations came together in solidarity to resist their brutal conditions, one of the only times this has occurred since the Black Panthers started organizing prisoners in the late 1960s. The significance of this solidarity was not lost on the CDCR, which has indicated that it will deal with another strike in a much more aggressive manner. However, lawyers for the prisoners believe the solidarity will be just as strong, and that prisoners will continue even through forced feedings and even until death if necessary (see Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity blog).

Today in Labor History—September 29

September 29, 1931 - Three members of the United Mine Workers of America were shot to death by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Saskatchewan. The RCMP had fired into a miners’ parade. During the course of the strike, 400 miners and their families clashed with police. (From Workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

Lead Lurks in Lunch Boxes

Pollution and Activism (by Toban Black)

The Environmental Law foundation (ELF) in Oakland plans to file suit today over lead contamination in dozens of brands of bottled juice, packaged fruit and baby food, according to a report today on the California Report. The foods are commonly fed to children, sent to school with them in their lunchboxes or sold in cafeterias. Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of lead and other toxins because of their smaller bodies and rapidly growing bodies and brains.

Jim Wheaton, President of ELF, said that their tests indicated that dozens of major companies are violating the state’s Prop 65 by selling products containing lead without providing the required warning labels. One reason for this may be that there is no safe level of lead. Therefore, a warning label would likely result in a dramatic drop in sales, which is certainly what should happen.

Lead poisoning can cause cognitive impairment and lead to learning disabilities. Poor children are particularly vulnerable, as they are more likely to have additional environmental exposures from lead based paint, pipes and pollutants that are less common in affluent homes and communities.

While the lead in processed fruit should be of concern to parents, the report is not really news. Our environment is full of dangerous contaminants, some of which are mandated by law. For example, furniture and bedding in California and many other states were required to contain flame retardants which are toxic to humans. A recent study found the children in California have seven times the level of PBDEs in their blood than their counterparts in Mexico.

There are also other sources of food-borne contamination besides the lead found in processed fruits. Canned fruits, juices, tomatoes and beans are all lined with coatings that contain bisphenol A. Fish, particularly large predators like tuna, halibut, shark, spearfish, typically have high levels of mercury that have entered the food chain primarily as pollution from coal plants. Fruits and vegetables that are not produced organically are often sprayed with pesticides and grown in fertilizers that are toxic. Some of these are known human hormone disrupters or mimics and are thought to contribute to decreased sperm count, gynecomastia and premature puberty.

The fact is that there are hundreds of known carcinogens, neurotoxins and hormone disrupters that are commonly used in food production and commercial products and thousands more chemicals that are commonly used by industry that are unregulated and not thoroughly tested. Many of these chemicals make their way into our bodies through our food, air and water. Children take them in through breast milk. They accrue in dust. Pollutants like cigarette smoke can adsorb to our walls and react with chemicals in the air, producing even deadlier toxins that can desorb from the walls and enter people’s bloodstreams.

Concerned parents can probably reduce the toxic load by avoiding packaged processed foods and purchasing more organically produced products. However, people also need to consider the types of cosmetics and toiletries they consume, the types of packaging their goods come in, their electronic devices, indoor ventilation, flooring, siding, driving habits and numerous other lifestyle decisions.

ILWU Sues Longview City and Police For Excessive Force

The ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) has filed suit for the excessive use of force against ILWU members in Longview, Washington, during their own going protests against the new port terminal in Longview. They have sued the sheriff of Cowlitz County, the City of Longview police chief, Cowlitz County and the City of Longview, for their roles in beating and assaulting union members’ and their families as they protest the terminal owner’s use of nonunion labor, in violation of previous agreements with the port.

According to ITFGlobal.org, longshore workers and their supporters can no longer move freely in their own town without fear of being ambushed in front of children and families by an out-of-control police chief and sheriff.

Earlier this month, police attacked nonviolent demonstrators with batons and pepper spray, including women and children. During this same demonstration, police carried rifles loaded with rubber bullets and authorities threatened to call in the military to suppress the protests. On September 8, they dumped 10,000 tons of grain from the trains.ILWU President Bob McEllrath was arrested during these demonstrations and only released after 500 pissed off union members surrounded the police.

After the September 8 action, police have been picking off union members in their homes, from the streets and parking lots. One union member was taken from his home by police while he was caring for two young children, leaving the two at home alone to fend for themselves. All in all, roughly 135 union members have been arrested since July, according to Labor Notes.

It should be pointed out that the union activities have been overwhelmingly nonviolent. Accusations that union members kidnapped a guard and held him hostage turned out to be a fabrication of the bosses and local law enforcement, used to justify their heavy handed tactics against protesters.


It should also be pointed out that the union actions come in response to the terminal owners' violation of the port's contract requiring them to hire members of the ILWU, Local 21.

Greek Students Take Over State TV

Obama has called on Greece to get its act together and demanded that Europe clean up her backyard (so he doesn’t have to do this difficult job with his own rotten economy). The problem is that Europe is only concerned with protecting European bankers, which means that Greece will not be forgiven any of its debts or offered any lifeline, which means that Greek workers must bail out their economy through greater and greater austerity.

Greek students and workers, however, do not agree with this conclusion.

(From the Student Activism website)

Last night at least fifty Greek student activists stormed the studios of Greek state television network, commandeering the live evening news. While network officials quickly pulled the plug on the broadcast, the message was not lost on viewers. Students did succeed in getting a public statement aired on the network at midnight.

Today in Labor History—September 28

Karl Marx

September 28, 1864 – The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), the first Communist International, was founded on this date in London.

September 28, 1917 - Federal agents arrested 165 Wobblies (members of the Industrial Workers of the World) for their resistance to World War I. Over 300 IWW leaders were arrested in September and their offices raided throughout the country. Of course their real crime was continuing to engage in labor strikes and slowdowns, despite the war propaganda. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 28, 1920 – Eight members of the Chicago White Sox were indicted by a grand jury for conspiring with gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series in what became known as the Black Sox Scandal. The players were acquitted by the jury, but they were still banned for life from professional baseball. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 28, 1920 -- Throughout September there were widespread occupations of Italian factories by workers. The actions originated in the auto factories, steel mills and machine tool plants, but spread to many other industries, including cotton mills, hosiery firms, lignite mines, tire factories, breweries & distilleries, steamships and warehouses in the port towns. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 28, 1971 – After years of corporate plunder, the Chilean government expropriated Anaconda and Kennecott copper mines, pissing off American capitalists and setting the stage for the CIA supported coup of 1973, which lead to the brutal Pinochet dictatorship and 17 years of repression and violence. (From the Daily Bleed)