Call for Boycott & Solidarity Actions Against Prison Canteen Profiteers

Prisoners in North Carolina who began a hunger strike on Monday, July 16th, at three different facilities, are now calling for a boycott and actions against specific prison profiteers in solidarity with their strike. They are hoping that the boycott can spread on the outside as well as the inside.

Striking prisoners, several of whom are calling themselves the “Freedom Riders Movement,” have singled out the following companies specifically. The list includes headquarters of the companies; it is likely they have distribution and production centers all over.

KEEFE Supply Company, in St. Louis, MO – Sells snacks and junk food.

American Amenities, located in Woodinville, WA – Sells hygiene items.

JM Murray Center, Inc. in Cortland NY – Sells toothpaste.

Four-in-One Co. Inc. in Mountainview, CA – Sells salad dressing and mayo.

Heinz Co. in Pittsburgh, PA – Condiments, etc.

Ascent Battery Supply LLC in Harland, WI – Sells batteries.

Medique Products in Ft. Myers,, FL – Ibuprofen and other medical supplies.

Sony

New Balance

Coca Cola

It goes without saying that the companies who sell their products in prison canteens make millions of dollars off the most perverse kind of monopoly capitalism imaginable. Much of the money for their products, which due to budget cuts and the resultant decrease in calories rationed to prisoners over the last few years, comes from already poor families on the outside trying to help subsidize their loved one’s meager diets on the inside.

This kind of exploitation goes beyond “unjust” – it is disgusting and obscene at the most basic human level. NC prisoners and those who share affinity on the outside are encouraging folks on both side of the wall to follow the money trail and target the prison system where it financially hurts, and take actions to spread this hunger strike in both numbers and scope.

For more on the North Carolina prisoners’ hunger strike: http://prisonbooks.info/2012/07/18/prisoners-begin-hunger-strike-at-three-facilities/