Pensacola News Journal

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Officials say inmates have ended a work stoppage meant to protest conditions at two Alabama prisons.

A statement issued Friday by the Alabama Department of Corrections says officials lifted a lockdown at Holman prison near Atmore on Thursday after striking inmates went back to work. Prisoners at Holman work in the kitchen and in factories that make linens and car tags.

A strike ended earlier north of Montgomery at Elmore prison, where the department says about 300 inmates participated in the stoppage. Inmates there work in food distribution, a laundry and a recycling plant.

The inmate strikes began May 1 as a protest against conditions at the two prisons. Prison system employees stepped in to perform some of the kitchen and medical work typically done by inmates during the strike.