Florida prisoners plan Martin Luther King Day strike over 'slavery'

Inmates of Florida’s prisons are planning to use Monday’s Martin Luther King Day holiday to launch a statewide strike over conditions they say amount to modern-day slavery.

The unusual protest has been called by inmates angry at being used as unpaid clean-up crews for storm debris in sweltering temperatures last September, after Hurricane Irma struck the state.

But organisers cite a number of other longstanding grievances for the planned month-long action, in which prisoners will refuse to take part in work assignments and forego purchasing...read more.