Everyday here at Two Rivers Correctional Institution's Physical Plant, General Maintenance Crew 6 goes to work under C/O K. Wright. We work really hard. We use some equipment that isn't quite up to par. For instance our lawnmowers. These are manual push mowers. No gas at all. The blades are dull, the wheels squeak and their hard to push. If this sounds like hard work try it with this prison guard during the hot summer days, blisters on your hands and the sun high in the sky. The heat is so hot, making you feel like you're going to pass out. You try to stop only for a second--maybe to catch your breath, wipe the sweat out of your eyes or to get the hair out of your face--and Wright yells at you to keep working.
She doesn't allow you any water. No refreshing drink, keep moving. No breaks, keep moving. I can't believe she gets away with this. Slavery was supposed to be done and over with. I told her that I needed a break for a second. I did this in front of my other co-workers. She said "Keep moving, don't stop working." Everybody I worked with stopped and took a break with me because we all needed it. I'm one of the young guys on this crew, can you imagine what it must be like for my co-workers that are in their 40s?
After the day was over one of the older co-workers said he was proud and respected me for speaking up. Someone needs to. Later I received a daily fail. Didn't get paid or even credited for the day. I worked very hard. Now I know how it must have been to be a slave.
-- A Prisoner in Oregon, April 2005