The state sure loves to crack down when workers try to stand up for themselves, but they have no problem forcing these guards into terrible conditions in the first place. If the government wasn’t running the prison system like a monopoly, maybe there’d actually be some competition and better treatment for both employees and inmates. Instead, we get bureaucrats deciding who can and can’t work, all while taxpayers foot the bill for the inevitable mess. Strikes should be a voluntary negotiation between workers and employers, not something politicians get to outlaw just because it inconveniences them. If these guards were in the private sector, they’d at least have the freedom to walk away without the government punishing them for it.