Georgia prisoners returning to work

photo Staff File Photo by Chad McClure/Chattanooga Times Free Press Inmates at Hays State Prison make their way back to their housing area in this file photo.

After a five-day standoff, Georgia prisoners reportedly are returning to work, according to a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Starting at noon Tuesday, prison officials began the process of returning four state prisons to normal status, spokeswoman Kristen Stancil said. Since Dec. 9, the prisons had been on lockdown.

"On Tuesday, December 14th, inmates left their cells and reported to work in the kitchen and laundry areas of the facilities," Stancil said in a statement. "Today, there were no incidents reported as inmates went to breakfast and lunch."

A group of activists said inmates were refusing to work at their nonpaid prison jobs as a protest for lack of pay and bad living conditions.

The Department of Corrections never said why the prisons were on lockdown, but Stancil now says prisoners are back to work.

The group organizing the strike, the Concerned Coalition, said many men still were refusing to work, but that the strike was a victory because they have a Friday meeting with Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens.

WHERE THEY STRUCKRoughly 5,500 prisoners were on lockdown at four prisons involved in an inmate strike this week.* Hays State Prison, Trion, Ga.* Macon State Prison, Oglethorpe, Ga.* Telfair State Prison, Helena, Ga.* Smith State Prison, Glennville, Ga.Source: Georgia Department of Corrections

"The issue is not the strike. The bottom line is the demands," said Elaine Brown, a California-based prison advocate and a former chairwoman of the Black Panthers who has a child in a Georgia prison. "Whether they've gone back to work or they haven't, it was only slated to be a one-day strike. ... If they went back to work it's because they wanted to have a peaceful conclusion to the strike."

Before Tuesday, inmates at Hays State Prison in Trion, Ga., Macon State Prison, Telfair State Prison and Smith State Prison had been on lockdown, denied free movement, showers and access to television.

Even though the lockdown has ended, inmates still face additional restrictions for now.

"Inmates will have restricted movement, which requires them to be escorted outside of their living unit," Stancil said. "Inside the living units, inmates can move around freely and have access to telephones, showers and televisions."

Inmates reportedly were coordinating the strike via contraband cell phones. Outside organizers reportedly were communicating with the inmates via those phones and reporting the strike's progress to the media.

Inmates want more educational options, more visitation, more fruits and vegetables and pay for their work in several prison-run enterprises.

Contact staff writer Adam Crisp at acrisp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6323.

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