FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Friday, August 24, 2018

Contact: Tony Ndege, co-chair -- cochair@ncgreenparty.org

NORTH CAROLINA GREEN PARTY SUPPORTS THE NATIONAL PRISON STRIKE ORGANIZED AND LED BY PRISONERS, WITH OUTSIDE SUPPORT FROM THE INCARCERATED WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (IWOC)

The US has the largest prison population in the world, both in real terms and as a percentage of the population. Prison populations are disproportionately people of color, highlighting the ongoing institutionalization of white supremacy.

Incarcerated workers usually receive less than $1.00 an hour, often while enduring poor food, indifferent guards, and bad living conditions.

“Prisoners should be paid fair market wages for their labor, not used as a source of cheap labor for for-profit companies,” said Wayne Turner of the North Carolina Green Party.

Tommie James, a co-chair of the North Carolina Green Party, noted that “The United States supposedly ended slavery, but the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution left a loophole to the commitment to end involuntary servitude. Its exploitation is shameful.”

The North Carolina Green Party acknowledges the inhumane conditions endemic in the US carceral system and supports incarcerated persons in their efforts to end prison slavery and to ensure that the justice system prioritizes rehabilitation and recidivism reduction over punishment imposed by long, unjust sentences and death by incarceration. We support the strikers’ demands for the immediate end of racist social control and the repeal of the laws that uphold it.

For a complete list of the strikers' demands, visit https://incarceratedworkers.org/campaigns/prison-strike-2018.

The North Carolina Green Party is an anti-racist, feminist political party composed of dues-paying members committed to social, racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice. This year, the state party earned ballot access for the first time in history, and it is now running four candidates for office in the November elections.



MORE INFORMATION:

NCGP website: www.ncgreenparty.org

NCGP Facebook page: www.facebook.com/officialncgp

NCGP Twitter: @NorthCarolinaGP