By Connor Sheets
Alabama Media Group
ATMORE, Ala. — The Department of Corrections said Monday that a number of guards at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore failed to report to work on Saturday.
Bob Horton, a spokesman for the department, emailed a statement to AL.com that confirmed reports by inmate advocacy groups that a strike took place at the prison over the weekend.
But it stopped short of giving credence to the groups’ claims that guards were still on strike Monday.
“Some correctional officers assigned to William C. Holman Correctional Facility did not report for the third shift on Saturday,” Horton said. “As a result, officers from other correctional facilities augmented Holman’s security staff. Prison officials have not reported further incidents.”
The failure by the correctional officers to report to work Saturday comes on the heels of two weeks of strikes by inmate laborers across the country. The striking prisoners are protesting what they describe as inhumane living conditions and unfair employment practices in prisons.
The Free Alabama Movement (FAM) issued a statement Saturday about the strike.
“Last night at Holman prison an emergency situation developed as ALL of the officers assigned to the second shift waged a historic work strike for the first time in the history of the Alabama Department of Corrections,” the group wrote.
The statement went on to claim that a Department of Corrections (DOC) official “was dispatched to the prison,” and that he brought in supervisors from another correctional facility “just to be able to serve meals.”
The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee issued a tweet Monday morning that was cited by Buzzfeed News and followed up on FAM’s statement.
“The guards are refusing to work,” the tweet said. “THE GUARDS. ARE. REFUSING. TO. WORK. AT. HOLMAN.”
The guards are refusing to work.
THE GUARDS. ARE. REFUSING. TO. WORK. AT. HOLMAN.
— IWW_IWOC (@IWW_IWOC) September 26, 2016
Prisoners at Holman went on strike for 24 hours earlier this month, the DOC confirmed, while advocacy groups say the strike was far broader.
The DOC did not respond to detailed questions about why the guards did not report to work or why they chose to do so.