Walla Walla Penitentiary Culinary Workers

[Introduction by facilitators of this petition:

Aside from the obvious humanitarian and public health reasons for supporting this petitioning, we are particularly concerned about the greatly increased potential for lawsuits filed by prison inmates and employees against the Department of Corrections (DOC), resulting from the greatly increased potential for VIOLENCE and ILLNESSES caused by the removal of the kitchen showers at Walla Walla State Penitentiary. WE THE TAXPAYERS OF WASHINGTON STATE PAY FOR such legal proceedings and settlements and for the decreased effectiveness of our corrections system caused by such counterproductive decisions on the part of the DOC personnel whose generous salaries and benefits we also pay for.]

Taxpayers For Prison Reform http://walterkarp.tripod.com/taxpayersforprisonreform

Prisoners Union
http://walterkarp.tripod.com/prisonersunion
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THE PETITION:

Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla (WSP) administrators (food service culinary department authorities) have eliminated shower access for inmate culinary workers which has been available for years in the main institution kitchen building, giving "excessive theft" as the reason for the action - even though all inmate culinary workers are electronically video monitored, hand-searched individually, and scanned through a metal detector!

Access to these showers has been a critical management and health tool to promote/maintain sanitary and hygienic practices, without which is created a greater atmosphere for pathogens, contamination and bad hygiene.

Culinary workers are exposed daily to contamination from food waste particles, hot temperatures, causing perspiration, food odors, soiling and moisture that cling to the skin and clothing, which only decontamination of an adequate shower or washing can sanitize.

Without access to these showers inmate culinary workers have a very limited access to ANY SHOWERING AT ALL, since their unit showers are an already highly over-burdened archaic procedure WSP prisoners are being subjected to. (see my article "Dangerous Showers at Walla Walla":) http://ronaldhenderson.blogspot.com/2005/01/dangerous-showers-at-walla-walla.html

There are over a hundred culinary workers split between three work shifts which vary from five AM to ten AM, ten AM to six PM, and others that enter and leave at three different other times during each day.

Without access to these worker showers inmate workers will miss educational programming, religious and recreational activities, and day-room phone access - that they would normally have access to with the culinary showers provided.

Being forced to use the unit showers workers will have limited as well as inadequate access to showers.

This petition addresses the issues and concerns of the WSP-MI culinary workers who feel that elimination of the showers will create unsanitary and unhygienic conditions along with low morale of the food service workers and staff.

The signatories of this petition are requesting that the culinary worker showers be reinstated as they were previously. The drafting and contents of this petition/document is solely created, circulated and solicited by Ronald Henderson # 729397. I take full responsibility for this petition/document.

Please note that at the bottom of the petition (as it appears after you have signed and submited it) is a link with which you can email it to friends and likely supporters. It would also be helpful if you would email it to: [email protected] with Secretary of Corrections in the subject line.