This story was originally published at Prism.

To address unjust policies and conditions, more than 70 incarcerated workers inside Centinela State Prison collectively decided last fall to “slow down” production for the California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA). According to workers who spoke to Prism, the organizing effort was successful — and there may soon be another slowdown.

CALPIA, also called the PIA, employs between 5,800 and 7,000 incarcerated individuals inside facilities controlled by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The PIA earns substantial revenue by selling goods produced through prison labor, including office furniture, clothing, gloves, license plates, and cell equipment. Customers include universities and government agencies, such as the California Department of State Hospitals and the California National Guard, among others.

The PIA also has multiple contracts with CDCR, according to records obtained by Prism. One agreement for Career Technical Education training is worth $7.8 million through June 2026. Another $2.3 million agreement contracts CALPIA to develop and oversee vocational training programs inside prisons. In a third, CDCR pays the PIA more than $38 million to provide laundry services inside prisons, including Centinela.

Nearly 39,000 imprisoned people have job assignments in California state prisons, where, until recently, some made as little as $0.16 per hour. Last year, incarcerated workers in the state received a very minor wage increase, though a majority still make less than $1 an hour.

According to sources inside, Centinela’s incarcerated workers provide CALPIA with revenue, in part by making boxer shorts for California prisons.

Cortez Washington is incarcerated at Centinela and works for the PIA as an operational supervisor of production. He and other workers who spoke to Prism likened this work to “slave labor,” both because of the pay and because many prison jobs aren’t optional.

Last fall, Californians rejected legislation that would have banned forced prison labor. If passed, the law would have changed the state constitution, allowing incarcerated people to refuse prison work.

Washington said the PIA workers are paid “pennies on the dollar” for their labor and that CALPIA has a pay scale that caps how much incarcerated workers can earn. The max is $1 per hour; Washington makes around $0.80 per hour.

“It’s very coercive,” explained John, a Centinela worker who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “You can’t just quit. You’ll get [a] disciplinary write-up.”

Although California voters decided not to allow incarcerated people the ability to withhold their labor, around the same time, workers inside Centinela decided to take matters into their own hands. According to workers who spoke to Prism, meager pay was just one of the issues that led them to organize.

According to sources inside, one major cause of frustration was the prison’s failure to set a regular schedule for incarcerated workers to visit the canteen, forcing incarcerated CALPIA employees to regularly go without basic goods, like hygiene products.

California prison regulations state that incarcerated workers with full-time assignments should receive the........

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