Inmates in Canadian prisons striking for better wages

Yup ... you read that right!   Only in Canada!  If you can't find employment, do some dirty deed which will find you in prison and the govt. will not only give you three meals a day, you will also get a nice warm bed and when you decide to move a tool from point 1 to point 2 or twist the dial on a washing machine from "0" to another number ... our glorious government will also award you with a wage.  And, if you don't like the wage you are given, you have the right to go on "strike"  .... wonder if there are Labor Unions in prisons.  Heard of other kind of unions in prisons... Labor Unions too probably coming soon?

Is it any wonder that the takers have taken over Canada?  If our government is hell-bent on giving, why would the takers not take?

Maureen Brosnahan at CBCNews:
.....Inmates in Canadian prisons put strike on hold  
Prisoners seek talks with Corrections Canada officials on pay cuts and other issues.  Federal inmates who have been on strike in prisons across Canada since the beginning of this month have called a temporary halt to their actions.
The prisoners walked off their institutional jobs after the government reduced their pay by about 30 per cent as part of a cost-cutting measure.
In a letter sent to the federal commissioner of corrections, Don Head, the inmates are asking that officials begin discussions with them and their families over the pay cut and other changes underway in the correctional system.
“As people who live in the reality of incarceration and who are trying to return to the community as law-abiding citizens, my clients and other inmates have much to contribute to such a discussion,” wrote Todd Sloan, lawyer for several inmate committees across Canada, in the letter to Head.
“At the end of the day they believe that work refusals, albeit required in recent circumstances, can be harmful to all concerned if prolonged without resolution.” 
Sloan said they have asked for a response from Don Head by Nov. 20. Sloan called this “a show of good faith” by the inmates who are looking for “a reasonable option” to open a discussion.
Until this month, the top level pay an inmate could earn was $6.90 a day, but only a small percentage get that. The average is $3 a day. That rate was set by the government in 1981. It was based on a review by a parliamentary committee and it factored in a deduction from inmates for the cost of room, board and clothing........