Toxic Sweatshops

PARC is proud to release a new report, "Toxic Sweatshops: How UNICOR Prison Recycling Harms Workers, Communities, the Environment, and the Recycling Industry." For the first time, prisoners speak out on deplorable health and safety conditions within electronics recycling factories run by UNICOR. UNICOR, also known as Federal Prison Industries, is a government-owned corporation operated under the Department of Justice that uses captive prison labor in a range of industries, including the dismantling of electronics. Leroy Smith, a former safety manager at Atwater Prison, blew the whistle on UNICOR's facility there and was named "Public Servant of the Year" by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in September 2006. Download the report here.

[needs updating] We work with numerous groups in the SF Bay Area and nationally to organize public forums, film showings, and demonstrations. Through these events, PARC has both raised awareness of crucial issues and helped strategize toward building a coherent, effective mass movement. Some of our more significant educational projects include workshops for the Prison Issues Curriculum, our Prison Art Show and our Video and Discussion Nights. If you would like to get involved with PARC to do tabling, put on events and discussions, or help build community collaborations, please contact us.

With the thousands of letters received from prisoners we are given a
window into the lives and experiences of people inside. The letters
come in many forms: personal accounts, essays, poetry, etc. We
have picked through and chosen the most powerful writings and retyped
them unedited so that the public is aware of the terrible abuses and
the amazing examples of survival and strength that these prisoners
show.